


Flirting with Darkness

by sultrysweet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 20:48:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 93,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3502286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sultrysweet/pseuds/sultrysweet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina and Emma decide to let Cruella and Ursula into town. The longer the villains stay in Storybrooke, the more the two pairs of women start to influence each other. (Takes place after 4x12)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this since last Sunday's episode during the free time I have before and after work on weekdays. I expect to do this like a chapter per episode aired for this half of season 4 because I'll be using canon events to spur on the less action-y moments that happen between them in this version of 4B. The chapters will show both Emma and Regina and Ursula and Cruella. Sometimes all four will be together and sometimes, like this chapter, the pairs will separate but sort of mirror each other in certain aspects. Enjoy!

Hard to believe it started with a phone call, but stranger things happened all the time. Regina was rightfully hesitant, as was Emma, when Ursula claimed she and Cruella just wanted a second chance and a place to stay. They wanted to redeem themselves, Ursula had explained, just like the former Evil Queen had. It was then Emma knew. The blonde saw it in the other woman’s eyes that Regina wanted to give them the same opportunity she was rewarded.

Emma suggested the Snow Queen’s scroll and after they ended the call, Regina felt infinitely better about…everything. Except for maybe the hell beast Chernabog that flew around outside in search of the person with the darkest heart. That was thankfully, and kind of beautifully, rectified by teamwork at the town line. Teamwork that included Emma’s bug, Regina’s magic and attempt at a distraction so at least the younger woman survived, and a plan set successfully in motion out of well-timed instincts. Emma drove straight toward Regina and the town line and slammed on her brakes at the last moment. In an instant Regina ducked and the Chernabog crashed through the barrier and disappeared. They were both safe, Ursula and Cruella waiting impatiently on the other side.

When Emma got out of the car she looked at Regina with awe and Regina sighed with relief just as a small but bright and obvious smile appeared on her face, directed at Emma. And then they threw Cruella and Ursula the scroll after a brief moment. A moment in which Regina surprised even herself when she reached out and touched Emma’s shoulder.

Once the other women drove into town, the real fun began whether or not Emma and Regina knew it right away.

* * *

Once Rumple had told them of his plan to reunite them with Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula were on their own. He’d suggested the bed and breakfast run by a woman who apparently went by the name Granny even though she was only one person’s Granny and not the entire town’s. The bed and breakfast was a homey hotel connected to the one diner, but not the only restaurant, in Storybrooke. It was all very quaint and while Ursula didn’t seem to care one way or the other, Cruella sneered with distaste at the size and décor of the place. She wished her husband had been better with money. If he had been she’d still have the lifestyle she was always after since they came to the Land without Magic.

One room. Ursula only asked for one room and when Cruella asked why she insisted on sharing a cramped space, the other woman explained, “I don’t trust you to be lone in a place you can’t stand.”

“I don’t need looking after, darling.”

“Like hell you don’t,” Ursula argued after she accepted the room key from Granny and started to head upstairs. “You’d probably set fire to this place trying to sanitize your room.”

“This place looks like it has fleas and termites. Can you really blame me?”

“Yes.”

Cruella scoffed and rolled her eyes as she clomped up the stairs and picked up the ends of her fur coat to keep it from touching the floor. She swiped at it over and over as each stair threatened to dirty her magnificent fur.

Once inside the room, Ursula quickly and easily made herself comfortable while Cruella looked more displeased than ever before.

“Oh relax, Princess,” Ursula said when she noticed Cruella’s discomfort. “You’ll be fine here.”

“I most certainly will not,” she sniffed.

“Honey, you had sex with that sleazy, decrepit old man. I think you can handle this.”

“He was easy,” Cruella dismissively said. “He passed out most of the time so all I had to do was explain to him how great he was even though nothing had happened.”

“And the other times,” Ursula asked with a raised brow.

Cruella gave her a pointed look before answered, “I was on Egyptian cotton sheets with an incredibly high thread count. He was on top of me for less than five minutes. It wasn’t horrible.”

“Sounds like you didn’t get much out of it,” Ursula noted as she pulled down the sheets and fluffed up the pillows.

“They have things in this world that are magical in their own right that helped take care of that. I got by just fine. You, on the other hand, look like you haven’t been laid in years. Tell me, darling, are you satisfied? Haveyou _ever_ been satisfied since I left?”

Cruella kept plenty of distance between them and stood with a hand on her cocked hip. She grinned across the room at Ursula who had slowed her movements and looked back at Cruella with mostly annoyance but also a bit of a sadness in her eyes.

Cruella didn’t tease her any further, but she didn’t apologize either. Instead, she went the closet and inspected it thoroughly before she decided it was decent enough to hang her coat in.

Ursula laid out on the bed and rested her back against a pillow set up against the headboard. She was relaxed until she watched Cruella sit down on the other side of the Queen sized bed in the same clothes she’d worn all day. Ursula frowned while Cruella removed her shoes and tried her hardest to be comfortable in a bed that disgusted her. She wasn’t very successful, but Ursula never expected her to be.

“I have some clothes in your car, you know,” the former Sea Witch mentioned. “You can borrow something to sleep in if you want.”

“I’m fine as I am, darling,” Cruella insisted and laid down on her side with her back to Ursula.

“Why do you always have to be so stubborn,” Ursula tiredly and rhetorically asked as she turned onto her side, shut off the bedside lamp, and settled down under the covers.

Both women were wide awake as they laid in the dark with their backs to each other. Neither of them was able to sleep until exhaustion from the day’s hectic events overwhelmed them.

Just as Ursula felt herself drifting off, Cruella spoke up in a low, gravelly voice.

“Who do you think that blonde is?”

“What blonde?”

“The one next to Regina at the town line. You think she’s important?”

“Well, the only other people there were all pretty important in the other land.”

“You think she was with Regina or the other two?”

Ursula thought about it for a moment then replied, “The other two stood behind her and Regina and this _is_ supposed to be Regina’s town. She even reclaimed her title as Mayor.”

“I never caught the woman’s name, but Snow White and her prince mentioned their daughter Emma. You think it could be her?”

“She’s too close in age to them to be their daughter.”

“The place has been frozen in time for years,” Cruella reminded her. “It’s entirely possible that’s Emma.”

Ursula chuckled a moment later.

“What? What’s so funny,” Cruella asked and looked over her shoulder in the darkness at Ursula.

“Could you imagine that the blonde is their daughter and dares stand by Regina in her decision to let us into town?”

A few seconds passed before Cruella chuckled just as darkly as Ursula had a moment ago.

“You don’t think she’s the corruptible savior Rumple mentioned, do you? Because if she is, I’d say Regina’s done very well for herself. But it’s odd she would pair up with someone with such great potential for darkness while she herself is choosing to be good now.”

“Old habits die hard,” Ursula supplied a reason. “Besides, if Regina’s with her—and I mean _really_ with her—the sex is always better when it’s not so sweet and innocent.”

Cruella hummed her agreement and subtly rolled onto her other side before she coaxed Ursula onto her back.

“What are you—?”

Ursula didn’t finish her question before Cruella leaned in and kissed her. For a moment, Ursula was stiff beneath the other woman, but she kissed back before Cruella thought to pull away.

“No matter how good it is between her and that blonde, she’ll never experience better than what we once had,” Cruella purred above her.

“Uhn,” Ursula moaned before she grabbed a fistful of Cruella’s shirt, which was sure to wrinkle when she released it. “Damn right.”

Ursula pulled Cruella down for another kiss, much more heated than the first, and after a few minutes a tentacle appeared and wrapped itself around the other woman’s waist. Cruella let out a strangled moan that she’d seemingly tried to contain and failed to do, and Ursula hiked up her dress. She pulled Cruella’s underwear aside and positioned two fingers right beneath the other woman before she used her tentacle to push the other woman down onto her fingers.

Cruella tensed and grunted at the rough and unexpected intrusion, but Ursula went a little slower and was just a little gentler a moment later. Cruella then easily adapted and started to ride Ursula’s skillful hand.

When Ursula had told Regina over the phone that she and Cruella were back together, it was never more true than it was in that particular moment with the two of them moaning, panting, and finding satisfaction together.

* * *

Emma stood outside on her porch with a wide smile and a large bottle of wine as soon as Regina opened the front door.

“Figured it was a drinking occasion,” Emma said and walked into the mansion without an invitation.

Regina didn’t even chastise her for it. She even stepped aside to more easily permit entrance. Normally, they met everywhere else around town, the Mayor’s office, Granny’s diner, Regina’s vault. They hadn’t met at the house until then, but Emma always invited herself into Regina’s space the same way every time.

“Where’s Henry’s book,” Emma asked as she headed into the kitchen.

Regina followed close behind the other woman.

“Upstairs in his room,” Regina answered.

“So, where it normally is,” Emma surmised and grabbed a corkscrew from the third place in the kitchen she’d checked for one. She found it much faster than she should have considering how few times she’d been inside the mansion.

“I didn’t want to just take it from him. I thought I’d wait until you showed up before I asked him for it,” Regina explained. “He’s a part of this too and he’s been glued to that book ever since Blue suggested it contained clues about the Author.”

“God, you raised him to be a nerd,” Emma joked and flashed a smile over her shoulder at the brunette. “Does that mean underneath all of your queenly-ness that you’re a nerd, too?”

Regina rolled her eyes while Emma placed the wine bottle on the counter and started to twist and pull to remove the cork.

“You are, aren’t you,” Emma teased with a grin and a second later, popped the cork. “Regina Mills, a nerd.”

“Stop it.”

“What? I like it. It’s kind of got ring to it.”

Emma looked around the kitchen for a moment and Regina sighed.

“The glasses are in the cabinet near the dishes,” Regina said and motioned to where the glasses were.

Emma nodded before she went over to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. She poured them both generous amounts of the red wine and left the bottle on the counter as she walked back over to Regina and handed her one of the glasses. It was a familiar scene, but the roles were reversed and the circumstances were different.

“How about we get Henry to bring us the book,” Emma asked with a smile before she took her first sip.

They crossed through the foyer and called for Henry. He ran to the railing and they asked him to bring down his book. Within a few minutes, the three of them sat together on the living room floor. Emma leaned back against the couch with her legs crossed over each other while Henry and Regina sat cross-legged on either side of her. They made a circle between the couch and the coffee table with the book in Emma’s lap, the blonde being the center point of their circle.

Emma sipped at her wine and slowly flipped through the slightly yellowed pages of the book with a critical eye on the lookout for details they could use. After a long couple of minutes in silence, Regina gradually began to move closer to the other woman. She was desperate for answers and Emma had yet to give her any. She hadn’t shared any information, claimed not to have any to share each time Regina asked her again and again, so Regina invaded her space little by little until she was able to read over Emma’s shoulder.

Emma started to furrow her brow further and hummed every so often. That prompted Henry closer and soon enough, Henry and Regina were both at Emma’s sides. They were all arm to arm as they stared down at the book as it remained in Emma’s lap.

Regina pointed out a few phrases and sentences, a recounting of her parts of the story that weren’t quite right. Emma also asked a few times if a certain phrase, even if that part of the book wasn’t specifically about Regina, sounded familiar in any way. Henry scampered off for a moment and returned with a pen and a notebook. He handed them to Regina and she jotted down the things they’d pointed out that didn’t fit with certain accounts of the overall story. She also noted a few narrative cues that were repetitive and showcased the Author’s voice.

They only managed to write enough information, along with questions about each piece of the story they tried to dissect, to cover a single page. Henry had fallen asleep against Emma, his head on her shoulder, prior to their limited success and after their success, both Emma and Regina’s visions started to blur from exhaustion and wine.

“I say it’s time we call it a night,” Regina said as she slowly got up and set the notebook and pen on the coffee table.

Emma nodded her agreement and closed the storybook. She eased Henry off of her and let him lay back on the couch just long enough for her groan while she stood up. She set the book down on the coffee table next to the pen and notebook and turned back to Henry.

“I’ll take him to his room,” Emma offered and carefully started to lift him into her arms. She maneuvered him over her shoulder and carried him fireman-style toward the stairs. She grunted as she moved, their gangly son too big to be carried, but he was a heavy sleeper and Emma really didn’t have the heart to wake him.

“You really shouldn’t strain yourself. I can just poof him to his bed.”

“Wouldn’t that be really disorienting? Even in sleep?”

“Yes, for someone who’s not used to it, but—”

“Then this is how he’s getting to his room,” Emma gritted out as she approached the stairs.

“Be careful.”

Regina followed her up the stairs, close behind the blonde in case Emma needed help if Henry started to slip off her shoulder. He thankfully didn’t, but it took Emma several minutes to lug him up to the second floor. Regina then magically opened Henry’s bedroom door from behind Emma and the younger woman quickly brought their son to his bed.

Emma swiftly but gently laid him out on the bed and puffed out a heavy sigh as soon as his dead weight was placed elsewhere and no longer on her shoulder. She rotated and stretched her shoulder a few times to work out the kinks as soon as possible and then the two of them headed back out into the hallway.

Once the room door was shut and they were closer to the stairs yet again, conversation between the two of them started back up.

“You know, there’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask since the wannabe former villains arrived.”

Regina arched a brow and replied, “I think you’ll need to refer to them as something else, dear.”

“What, that’s what they want to do, right,” Emma asked as they started to make their way back downstairs. “They want to be reformed, redeem themselves like you did.”

“Yes, but- Oh, never mind. What’s the question?”

“Oh, right. Well, you knew Maleficent. That much I understood a while ago. How do you know Cruella and Ursula?”

“Well, I impersonated Ursula once. She didn’t take too kindly to it.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Emma stopped Regina before the woman could explain any further. “What does that- Does that mean you had _tentacles_? _How_ did you have tentacles?”

Regina chuckled with a hint of dark amusement as they reached the bottom of the stairs and came to a stop in the foyer. She stepped a little closer to Emma before she answered the blonde’s question.

“It’s a simple transformation spell. Want me to show you?”

Out of nowhere, a tentacle slid up between them and affectionately caressed Emma’s cheek. The younger woman flinched and shuddered, but she didn’t back away. Her breath hitched and she was caught off guard, but she seemed to relax after a moment.

Regina’s eyes softened from a more Evil Queen-like glimmer to an expression of wonder and slight disbelief. As she stared at Emma, there was a moment when the blonde actually looked as though she felt safe even as a tentacle that didn’t belong continued to touch her. Regina slid the tentacle from Emma’s cheek down to her neck and used the tip of it to lift the younger woman’s chin.

“Emma,” Regina sighed out her name with so much reverence.

Emma took a deep breath and said, “I don’t want tentacles. But a transformation spell would be an okay part of a magic lesson.”

Regina smiled and retracted the tentacle before it disappeared completely.

“Never speak of this to Ursula,” Regina warned her. “I agreed not to impersonate her ever again and I’m not sure if that includes simply growing tentacles on command.”

“Sounds to me like you might be just a little bit afraid of her,” Emma said and wiped off the slime left behind on her skin by the tentacle.

“No, I’d just like to preserve some kind of alliance and friendship with her. And with Cruella whom I’ve only ever met because of Maleficent.”

“You want to be friends with them?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh. No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…” Emma trailed off and stopped herself before she shook her head and smiled. “I think that’d be nice. Seeing you with other people you can be close to. For a while now you’ve either been a shut-in or walking on egg shells. Watching you have more of a social life with at least one other person that isn’t me would be good for you.”

Regina nodded. She took a moment then to look over Emma and in that time she noticed the blown pupils, the hazy expression, and the slight wobble as she rocked back and forth where she stood.

“Are you going to be alright getting home?”

Emma ran a hand through her hair and furrowed her brow as she thought about it.

“Uh, yeah. I think so. I’ll just…maybe I’ll leave my car here and walk home. I’ll come back for it tomorrow.”

“If you have to walk home, you shouldn’t _go_ home. I have a guest room.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“Why not? It’s a perfectly good room and if you’re both tipsy and tired it’s the closest place you’ll successfully get to without trouble.”

“I don’t want to put you out.”

“You wouldn’t be. I offered. Just accept the room for the night. You know your parents and Henry wouldn’t forgive me if I let you leave in this state. And truthfully, I’d…I’d worry about you.”

“I can take care of myself.”

Regina rolled her eyes.

“I know that, but right now you’re vulnerable to attack.”

“You think that’s a possibility? Aside from the thing from the hat, the only possible trouble would be Cruella and Ursula.”

“The road to redemption is long,” Regina explained. “Don’t forget that I had a few setbacks myself. Who’s to say they won’t relapse?”

“You don’t trust your friends?”

“They aren’t exactly my friends. Yet. And as a former villain I know what they’re capable of, regardless of the things they say they want.”

“Okay.”

After Emma agreed, both women looked at the stairs. They’d just come from up there and it was evident on both of their faces that they didn’t want to walk back up there again.

“Would like me to poof us,” Regina asked.

“Yes, please.”

In an instant, purple smoke surrounded them and in another instant both were on the second floor at the top of the stairs.

“Whoa,” Emma said and reached out to brace herself on the railing.

She was unsteady on her feet for multiple reasons, one of them being that she was a little drunk and the other that transportation via magic was as disorienting as she thought it was. After a moment, she was okay enough for Regina to show her to the guest room, however, and Emma practically collapsed on the bed almost as soon as she walked through the threshold.

“I can lend you something to sleep in,” Regina said.

“I don’t need anything. I’m wearing a comfy shirt and I’m capable of taking off my pants.”

Emma smiled and Regina looked at her with distaste due to the blonde’s words.

“Don’t make me want to burn those sheets later.”

Emma laughed and Regina smiled before they said their goodnights.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Another chapter. So I know that some of you might be reading my other SQ fics as well and if that's the case, I'll be getting back to them as soon as possible. The last three weeks have been nothing but job training for me and I'm also in the process of interviewing for a second job. So things have been a little hectic and it seems one story is all I can handle right now. Thankfully for those of you reading this one there will be an update a week if I can manage it. So, without any further delay, enjoy the chapter! :)

Cruella intently stared over the counter at the gray haired woman the place was owned by and named after while she slowly but impatiently tapped her red-gloved fingers against the countertop. If it was possible, her eyes could have pierced through the elder Lucas like a spear with how hard Cruella looked at her. Ursula wasn’t incredibly patient either, but she said nothing and her gaze moved from one thing to the next with no particular focus on the woman behind the counter. She quietly sighed just as Cruella finally spoke up for the first time since they’d placed their orders.

“Uh, darling, how much longer for those drinks?”

Granny glared back at her over the top of her glasses while they rested low on the bridge of her nose. A moment later she looked away and continued to work.

Cruella lowered her head into her hands, aggravated and a little tired.

The bell above the diner door clanged and a rough but appealing man walked in. He approached the counter with a neutral expression then asked for his usual. Granny smiled and said, “You bet’cha” as she handed over two travel cups to Will Scarlet who smiled back at Granny as soon as he had his drinks.

“Cheers,” Will said and left.

Cruella scoffed and flailed through her arms up in a displeased gesture before she leaned over the counter like a predator, the angle of her body directed at Granny.

“You know, if that old bag still wolfed out I’d turn her into a coat for my collection,” Cruella said with a growl pent up in the back of her throat she didn’t release.

A few seconds passed before the bell jingled again and Ursula almost immediately noticed and then quickly grinned at none other than Regina Mills. The brunette had just entered the quaint establishment with a dapper young boy at her side that stood to the height of the woman’s chest.

“Regina,” Ursula greeted, overly friendly. “We could use a heart-rip over here. Granny needs a little more encouragement in taking our order.”

“Yes, a very effective tactic,” Cruella deviously grinned with a raised chin. “Didn’t you once rip out the heart of every villager in the North woods?”

“Or was it the South,” Ursula asked for a little clarification.

Both women were absolutely smug and more than happy to bring up the past when it suited their tastes so well. They really had enjoyed the stories and the chances to watch Regina in action, back when she was a villain to admire. As a hero she wasn’t as compelling. There was no real thrill except for her good looks, which couldn’t be taken away no matter what side of things she was on. But both Cruella and Ursula had to agree they liked her better in dark dresses and heavy makeup much more than how she appeared in the small town.

Regina swallowed noticeably before she turned to Henry and politely smiled at him.

“Why don’t you head to my office and…get started on the book,” she asked him.

“Okay,” Henry easily agreed. “Make sure to get chocolate _frosted_ donuts. Not chocolate donuts, okay?”

Regina smiled and nodded at him and a second later he was out the door. Once he was out of earshot, Regina turned back to face Cruella and Ursula and took a step toward them.

“Let me be clear, ladies. If you bring up my former sins around my son again, you’ll find yourselves over that town line faster than you can say costume jewelry.”

“These are blood diamonds, I’ll have you know,” Cruella corrected, her smugness gone completely and her eyes wide with disbelief that Regina dared stoop to such a level with her.

“Come on,” Ursula said as she slid off the stool next to Cruella. “Let’s take our business elsewhere.”

They adapted their normal attitude, the bad attitude they directed at everyone else in that town, but never another villain like themselves. Not until Regina had talked to them like that.

Ursula and Cruella left the diner while Regina watched them walk off together. Almost as soon as they stepped outside, Cruella saw Hook at the end of the pathway to the diner’s entrance. She disapprovingly glared at him and made sure to walk at least a step ahead of Ursula until they passed him.

“Hook,” Ursula grudgingly greeted, her eyes almost as sad as they were angry and her gaze not as sharp as Cruella’s.

Once both women passed him on the sidewalk, Cruella slowed her pace the tiniest bit so she could wrap an arm around Ursula’s shoulders. She touched the darker woman’s back with a red-gloved hand and neither woman looked back at the pirate, or the blonde they still suspected was the corruptible savior that was with him. It was curious that she was at Hook’s side instead of Regina’s, but they didn’t let that be their concern in that moment. Instead, they focused on getting the hell away from the scoundrel both of them hoped would suffer before their work with Rumpelstiltskin was completed.

* * *

Granny boxed up the donuts for Regina in no time at all and soon enough, she smiled at the other woman as she accepted the small box with the diner’s logo on the top. She exited the diner almost as soon as she suggested to David—when he and Mary Margaret had hastily approached her about Cruella and Ursula—that the Sheriff’s Department make it their priority and not hers to follow Cruella and Ursula if the Charming couple feared the worst from the two women.

After she’d politely told them to fuck off, David and Mary Margaret left the diner and not long after them so did she.

Upon her departure from the diner, she stopped right outside the door when she saw Emma with Hook. The blonde practically clung to the handless wonder’s side even as she talked to David about missing out on a grilled cheese sandwich if she decided to actually go along with him to tail the two new-comers.

Regina’s initial thought was why Emma continued to hang on Hook like he’d chosen to hang on her for weeks on end, even when she hadn’t given him the time of day. It had been only a couple of days since she allowed Emma to stay in her guest room overnight after too much wine and research and she honestly thought—

Well, it didn’t matter what she thought. Emma was gone right after breakfast the next morning and went straight to the Sheriff’s station because David had called her in. Regina didn’t want to judge Emma, not since they’d worked together to stop the trigger and then saved Henry from Pan, but the blonde’s choice in men was awful. A good friend would speak up if the person their friend was dating was a good for nothing, self-centered pirate that couldn’t love her. Not completely. His heart belonged more to himself than to Emma and Jolly Roger or no Jolly Roger, Hook really liked Emma on his arm and in his bed.

Regina tried to hold off the bile she felt rise in her throat at the thought of Emma on her back for Hook. The thought of anyone in bed with the bastard was enough to make Regina sick, but it was worse when she imagined the tough and beautiful younger woman as his bedmate. She was too good for him and Regina just wished Emma would figure that out on her own. Otherwise Regina would yell at her until she understood she was worth so much more than Hook’s time or his stupid love. Honestly, he didn’t love her like she should be loved, but he was probably the only man in town Emma would ever pair up with except for the Knave. Maybe she would nudge Emma toward him instead. To do that, however, she’d have to ask her over for either drinks or more Operation Mongoose recon. Or both, since they always seemed to drink when they discussed the book anyway.

Emma ran off with her father and left Hook behind without even noticing Regina’s presence. When she was alone outside with Hook, he tried to smile at her, and it was nervous and awkward and not quite a smile. Regina only scowled back as she made her way down the pathway and onto the sidewalk in the direction of Town Hall.

When she arrived at her office, she smiled brightly at Henry as he sat in her chair when she set the to-go box from Granny’s down on her desk. He looked up from the opened book with his hand tucked between the corners of two different pages and her smile widened a little more.

“Chocolate _frosted_ donuts,” she said. “How are we doing? Did you find anything?”

“Not yet, but if the Author left clues in the book like Mother Superior said,” Henry returned her smile, “we’ll find them. How about you, Mom? How are you doing?”

She was a little surprised and a little taken back by his questions. She was—

“I’m fine, Henry,” she lied with a fake smile and slightly unsteady voice.

“You didn’t seem fine when we ran into Ursula and Cruella.”

She stalled and shook her head, her eyes wide, all while she tried to come up with a quick and reasonable explanation.

“Well, I suppose it’s because they remind me of a time in my life I’d rather forget,” she answered him as she sat down on the visitor’s side of the desk. “A time when I was a true villain. Makes me doubt if my happy ending’s even possible.”

“You can’t think like that.”

“I know, but sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever be as happy as I was when it was just you and me.”

Regina smiled at him and hoped he wouldn’t hate her for not including Emma. Things had been so much simpler before she came into their lives. Things between her and Henry were rocky, sure, but there wasn’t an ultimate battle happening and the only villain in town aside from herself was Rumple, who back then was only a powerless shopkeeper. His greatest power then was manipulation and that was something Regina knew all too well how to handle.

“That feeling,” Regina added, “was the closest I’d ever been to happy. I want to get back to that.”

Part of that was a lie, but she wasn’t about to tell her twelve year old son that sometimes when she was alone with Emma during an Operation Mongoose night it made her feel close to happy, too. She and Emma were friends and to mention how it made her feel in that particular context might confuse Henry.

“You will, Mom,” Henry assured her as he opened the donut box and grabbed one of his favorite sugary snacks. “We’re gonna find the Author and when he rewrites your ending, everything will be the way you want it to be.”

Henry looked up from the donuts after he grabbed a second one and he smiled at his mother. Regina smiled back, proud and pretty damn happy. Just the two of them. Her little prince helping her on a secret mission to find the person responsible for every hero’s happy ending. At least, as told according to the single storybook Henry had in his possession.

Henry chomped down on one of the donuts while Regina took a moment to collect herself. She took a deep breath and noted the potential mess her son could, and probably would, create if she didn’t do something about it first.

“Careful, Henry,” she warned him as she stood up and moved around to the other side of the desk to stand beside him. She laughed as she pointed at the book then tucked her hair behind her ears and told him, “You’re getting crumbs on the book.”

She brushed off the few crumbs she could before one page in particular stood out to her, the page Henry left the book on while he took a donut break.

“Sorry,” Henry quietly said before he started to lick the chocolate off of his fingertips.

Regina stared down at a picture of Marco—Gepetto—and Pinocchio as a boy.

“That’s strange,” she said before she slowly flipped the page and briefly looked at the next one. “This paper…it’s different than the rest.”

Henry then explained to her that August, when he was still a grown man and had first come to Storybrooke, had written his own story down and included it in the book.

“He wanted Emma to believe,” Henry said.

She remembered August well. She was full of doubt and suspicion when he showed up on his motorcycle. He was too secretive and seemed to take too close of an interest in Henry way before any stranger should have inserted themselves in the boy’s life unless that stranger liked little boys in a non-innocent way. Not to mention when Regina asked—more like demanded—Emma to find out what she could about him, Emma was soon seen straddling the back of the guy’s bike and riding off to only Emma and August knew where.

She realized that if August had been able to include his story in the book even though it wasn’t specifically written by the Author that August must have known something about the book’s origin. August wasn’t August anymore, however, and that created a bit of a problem. She was going to call Marco no matter what, but she sincerely hoped Pinocchio would remember something from his past life even though he was currently the same age as Henry. Second chances and all that.

* * *

Ursula and Cruella left the pawn shop with a box they needed to ensure they could revive Maleficent from her ashes that remained under the library where she was held captive in her dragon form. Ursula opened the back door to the car and bent over to slide the box into one of the hidden compartments under the seats.

Cruella started the car and waited for Ursula while the other woman grinned as she placed the box in the compartment.

“Hurry up, darling,” Cruella rushed her. “We may have all day, but I don’t want this to take that long.”

“Coming, dear,” Ursula sarcastically sang before she closed the door and walked around the front of the car.

“Not yet, but you will be,” Cruella said with a subtle but noticeable grin as she watched Ursula make her way around the car. Her eyes drifted from brown hair down to her hips and she reveled in the way her curves looked as her hips swayed with each step.

As soon as Ursula shut the passenger door, Cruella peeled off the curb and drove away from the more populated area of the town. It didn’t take long for her to see that the Sheriff’s cruiser was following her from a six car distance without any actual cars between them.

“It appears Rumple forgot to mention our dear Regina has a son. And the little tyke is very particular about his treats,” Cruella said after a few moments of silence in the comfortable, fuzzy red seats.

“Hard to believe the once Evil Queen could have a kid,” Ursula replied. “But I supposed him being spoiled is something Regina would be responsible for, good or evil.”

“That’s right,” Cruella slowly said and just as slowly bobbed her head up and down in agreement. “She was bred to be someone she never wanted to become. It only makes sense she would do the exact opposite and give her son everything without expectations for him to be a certain way, unlike how her life was.”

Ursula hummed and another moment of silence passed before she spoke up again.

“So, what do you make of that girl with… _him_?”

“The blonde? The savior?”

“Yes. Her.”

“I don’t know her, but I’m sure she could do better. _Regina is_ better. Why would she waste her time with that low-life when Regina’s right there?”

“Maybe things are more complicated than we assumed,” Cruella said.

“True, but I was sure there was something there.”

“Maybe we misread the situation.”

“You think Regina hasn’t locked that sweet young thing down yet?”

“Sweet young thing,” Cruella asked with an arched brow and a jealous tone.

Ursula smirked and said, “I only have eyes for you.”

“Yeah, right,” Cruella disbelievingly groaned.

A second later, sirens blared closer behind her from the Sheriff’s car and Cruella let out an unamused “oh” before she pulled over.

Charming pulled over behind her and got out of the car at an almost record setting pace. Or at least just faster than a routine traffic stop would warrant a sheriff to get out of the cruiser. Emma followed close behind, but she stopped at the rear passenger side of the car while Charming approached Cruella's door.

Cruella casually rolled down the window and greeted him with, "What can I do for you, Sheriff Chiseled Chin?"

"Step out of the car, please," he politely demanded.

"May I ask why," Cruella asked as she remained in the driver's seat and made no move to open her door. Ursula followed her lead and stayed in place as well.

"I need to search the vehicle," Charming explained.

Cruella sighed and started to get out of the car. Ursula rolled her eyes and yet again followed Cruella's lead.

"Sure. We'll accommodate you," Ursula sarcastically started to say as she walked along the car and stopped to stand a few feet away from Emma. "It's not like you need a warrant for that or anything."

Emma stood and watched everything play out, her hands stuffed into the back pockets of her extremely tight jeans. Cruella glanced over her from head to toe as she made her way toward Ursula. Ursula, on the other hand, stared a little longer as her eyes scanned over the blonde with disdain.

Cruella figured that Ursula's disdain came from the fact that the blonde spent time with that pesky pirate. Ursula didn't care much for the people in his company. Never did and never would.

"Maybe we should talk to Regina about who she gets involved with," Cruella quietly told Ursula as she kept her eyes focused on Emma's back to ensure the darker woman beside her knew just who she was referring to.

"Mm," Ursula noncommittally hummed.

Charming bent over at the waist and peeked inside the car for a moment before the trunk popped.

"Oh no," Cruella muttered as she watched the man walk around to the back of the car and inspect the contents of her trunk.

"What," Ursula asked with a furrowed brow as she looked from the car to Cruella and back again just as Charming shifted around a few things in the trunk.

As he moved a coat over, a thin and familiar black object poked out from underneath. Charming looked up and over at Ursula and Cruella as he kept the large coat in his hand held above the trunk space. From his position as he stepped aside to give both Cruella and Ursula a better visual of what he'd found and was questioning, if they went by the look on his face, it also gave Emma a decent view as well.

"Is that a...riding crop," Emma asked as she turned her attention from the trunk to the other two women.

"So you have seen one before," Cruella smugly and rhetorically asked with the corners of her mouth upturned in a sly, amused smirk. Her question came out as more of a statement.

Emma said nothing in response and looked at her father once again just as he dropped the coat back on top of the riding crop.

"Fortunately that's the only thing I kept back there," Cruella said to Ursula.

Ursula looked at Cruella, not too pleased, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What," Cruella asked with a little attitude and no idea what Ursula's problem was.

"Just how lucky were you planning on getting later," Ursula asked.

Cruella haughtily lifted her chin and said nothing more on the subject.

Charming walked the rest of the way around the car and opened the back door on the passenger's side. He leaned into the vehicle and checked it out for a moment before he realized there was a secret compartment under one of the seats. He opened it up and scrunched up his face to match the confusion he felt. He lifted the drawer-like compartment out of its place at the bottom of the backseat and pulled a dog collar out of the compartment to show to the three women that stood on the side of the road.

"What's this for," Charming asked Ursula and Cruella.

"For later, darling. It's personal," Cruella answered.

Ursula cleared her throat beside her and glared at the animal-whisperer.

"Did you seriously go out and find the only sex shop in Storybrooke just because of what happened the other night," Ursula quietly asked, but Emma's eyes widened and Ursula knew the blonde had overheard.

“That one’s actually from before. You don’t remember it? Oh, that’s a shame. I remember _everything_ about that time we—”

“ _Oh_ -kay,” Emma loudly interrupted. “Dad, why don’t you put that back and keep searching?”

Cruella smirked and after a moment said, “If you do plan to arrest us there’s also an extra pair of cuffs in there, darling.”

Sure enough, Charming dropped the dog collar back into the removed compartment and then picked up a pair of fuzzy red handcuffs to match the interior of the car. His eyebrows were extremely close to his hairline and Emma’s expression almost completely mirrored his.

“Dad,” she tried to urge him. “Look somewhere else.”

“Right,” he replied and placed the cuffs back in the box then moved to put the box back into the compartment slot under the backseat.

He started to pull back and out of the car when his eyes glanced over the rest of the backseat and caught a second compartment under the other side. He leaned in further and pulled it open. In it, he found a nicely polished, wooden box and opened it to reveal only one thing inside: a purple bauble in the clutch of a metal claw. His eyes widened and he sighed as he closed his fist around the trinket. He kept it hidden from sight as he backed away from the car and shut the door.

“You find anything,” Emma asked. “Other than all that…other stuff?”

“Uh, no,” Charming shook his head and Ursula and Cruella watched him intently, but kept their expressions neutral if not bored. “Nothing.”

“Really?” Emma sounded surprised, but after a couple of seconds she got over it. “Alright, well…”

Cruella’s focus shifted from Charming to his daughter, the relation something the blonde proved earlier when she called him Dad, and watched her just as closely as she’d watched him.

“Guess you guys are off the _hook_ ,” Emma added.

Cruella snarled and Ursula’s eyes lost a little of their usual shine.

“Oh. Sorry,” the blonde half-heartedly apologized.

“You know, it’d be nice if just one of the Charmings actually lived up to the family name,” Ursula said as she slowly made her way back to the car.

Cruella kept her angered expression fixated on Emma for another moment while Ursula got a good head start back over to the car while she remained rooted in place on the street. When Ursula was halfway between her and the car, Cruella finally made her way to the car as well.

After they were both alone again, Emma and her father back in the cruiser and ready to drive off, Cruella made sure to look Ursula over and see that she was okay before she did more than start the car.

“She didn’t bother you, did she? I can do something about her. I’ll sick all the dogs in this town on her and she’ll never see it coming,” Cruella offered.

“No. Thank you. I don’t need you to do anything. She’s an idiot. Maybe she _does_ deserve him. If Regina isn’t actually with her the way we originally thought, maybe that’s for the best.”

“Agreed,” Cruella said then faced forward again and finally put the car in gear and continued on their previous path before they’d been pulled over.

* * *

Visions of blonde hair and uncharacteristic giggles filled her thoughts. Red wine, storybooks, late nights, lots of conversation was how it started, and then suddenly fantasies of blonde hair and giggles occupied her mind. It made no sense and perfect sense all at the same time.

Then her phone rang with a chirp, jingle, and vibration against the nightstand. Regina groaned as she pulled herself the rest of the way out of her slumber. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to blink through the sleep haze that muddled her eyesight. The brunette picked up her phone and checked the caller ID to see the one name she knew to expect and the one name she loathed to see trying to reach her at such a ridiculous hour.

“What is it, Snow,” she groggily and unpleasantly greeted when she answered the call. “Most people are usually asleep by now.”

“I need you to meet me somewhere,” Snow went straight past pleasantries and quickly cut to the chase. “The park, maybe? Something happened and I can’t talk about it over the phone. I need to meet you.”

“If this has anything to do with Cruella and Ursula, I don’t want to hear it. They’re here for a second chance. Now will you please leave me to my sleep? Some of us have a town to run in the morning.”

Regina was about to hang up when Snow stopped her with an urgent and panicked tone.

“Regina, _please_ ,” she begged, more desperate than Regina had heard her in a while.

That made Regina freeze in place for a tense moment before she sat up in bed and told Snow, “We’ll meet by the pond in twenty minutes.”

She hated leaving Henry, but she didn’t think she would be long. It wasn’t like she could get a babysitter after eleven at night anyway and it was already one in the morning. Apparently whatever Snow had to say that she hadn’t already said was something that couldn’t be shared during waking hours. The other woman always did have a way of inconveniencing everyone else but never herself.

As she told Snow, Regina was at the park within twenty minutes. She waited for several minutes under her umbrella in the rain by the pond. Just when she thought the younger woman managed to fall asleep and leave her there to wait for nothing, she turned around at the sound of a car pulling up.

Within seconds, Snow parked and walked over to Regina without an umbrella. She started to shake and fidget as soon as she stepped out of the station wagon and Regina was sure it wasn’t just the weather that had caused that kind of reaction.

“I was starting to worry you’d stood me up,” Regina joked with less mirth and more tired annoyance. “Now what’s with all the cloak and dagger?”

Snow took a deep breath before she admitted, “Maleficent’s back.”

Regina was genuinely shocked and for a moment, she held her breath as she took in the information. When the moment passed, she released her breath in a heavy sigh.

“I should have known Fish Sticks and Pound Puppy were here for more than a second chance.”

“They want to destroy our happy endings,” Snow continued. “All of them.”

Regina nearly balked at that news.

“How do they hope to do that?”

“That’s where you come in,” Snow informed her. “We need to find out what they’re planning. We need someone close to them. Someone they believe to be a villain.”

Snow took a step closer to her and Regina straightened up a little as her shock turned into disbelief once all the pieces of the puzzle Snow laid out came together.

“We want you to go undercover with them and stop their plans,” Snow finished.

“And you just think they’re going to welcome me into their coven with open arms,” Regina rhetorically asked, her question voiced as a statement. She made it seem like Snow White was crazy for thinking going undercover would work, and that was because she truly did think Snow White was in fact crazy for that suggestion.

“Regina, you used to be one of them,” she argued.

“They think I’m a hero now,” Regina said and started to get a little angry. “They’ll never believe I want in.”

“So find a way to make them believe,” Snow snapped, and she really had no right.

What a self-centered brat, Regina thought. She wished she hadn’t expected more from the other woman, but they had been making such great strides in repairing their relationship. They were on the path to becoming friends even before Emma had tried to do the same. So of course she expected more from Snow again.

Regina stared Snow down for several long seconds until it clicked with her that Snow seemed all too convinced of the women’s dastardly plan to ruin things for everyone in town.

“What makes you sure they’re set on destroying us,” the brunette asked.

Snow blinked a few times and said nothing for a while. When she spoke again, she answered, “Because of something David and I did a long time ago.”

Regina wasn’t sure what that meant, but she knew it wasn’t anything good. She’d crossed Maleficent a few times before and she actually considered the woman her friend. Whatever Snow did to her, those two weren’t friends at the time and it wasn’t something to take lightly. That much Regina gathered from Snow’s grave look and serious tone. Plus, it wasn’t something easily dredged up if they had to meet at the park in the middle of the night on one of the crappier weather days during the season.

“Regina, you once asked me to…” Snow trailed off for a moment as tears finally started to fall. They’d been building up ever since Regina had asked Snow about her confidence that Storybrooke was in danger. One minute she sounded more like a spoiled brat than a rightful leader of the people, but in that moment she sounded guilty, vulnerable and maybe even a little terrified. “You once asked me to keep a secret. …And I couldn’t. But I’m going to ask you to keep one for me. One Emma can _never_ learn.”

Regina definitely didn’t like the sound of that. She and Emma were friends and they spent a lot of time together, especially since the blonde had agreed to help with Operation Mongoose. She was fine with keeping secrets and lying, even from Emma, but it made her nervous that Emma was the one person Snow was most concerned about not knowing the truth. It was curious and if Emma was the only person that really needed to be kept in the dark, that meant there was trouble on the horizon. The worry Regina felt because of that trouble stemmed from thoughts about lying to Emma and spiraled into thoughts about how safe Henry would be if Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent were successful in whatever it was they had planned.

Regina suddenly had a lot of concerns, and they all involved Emma and Henry. She took a step closer to Snow and lifted her umbrella to cover them both from the rain.

“What is it,” Regina sternly asked her.

“Emma was born with a potential for great darkness,” Snow sadly and breathily confessed.

“But she’s the Savior. A hero. Her magic’s as light as it gets,” Regina argued.

There was no way Emma could be swayed into darkness. There was just no way. Regina knew that darkness and knew it well. She also knew Emma’s magic and she thought she knew Emma well enough, too. Emma wasn’t capable of that. She couldn’t be. She was the one person Regina understood but could also look to as an example. They hadn’t been through the same experiences, but they’d both suffered in their pasts. Both women were hurt and knew terrible, emotional pain. They knew what it was like to be abandoned, to question people’s motives and feelings. They just knew a lot of the same things. But Emma was good. She was light. She was Emma! Blonde hair and smiles that were hard to come by, but were bright and infectious and magnificent all the same.

“David and I went to great lengths to ensure her magic was light,” Snow finally explained.

“If you ensured her goodness, why can’t you tell her?”

“...The same reason why you don’t want Henry to hear about the terrible things you did in your past. You want to protect him.If Emma ever found out what I’m about to tell you, she’d shut everyone out again. She’s just now starting to open up her heart…and if she learns the truth… If we let her down, she’ll lose faith in us.

“She’ll feel betrayed and that…that could send her tumbling down a dark path. We’ll lose her, Regina. After all this time- She’s finally started calling us Mom and Dad and she’s… She smiles and she’s happy and she doesn’t run anymore.”

“She hasn’t run for a very long time,” Regina said.

Snow mirthlessly breathed out a small laugh.

“Yes, but… Do you remember when she was struggling to learn and control her magic?”

Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Do I,” she rhetorically asked. “Who do you think taught her?”

Snow forced a quick smile then continued.

“She’ll get out of control again. We can’t let that happen.”

“‘We’ as in you and David? Or does ‘we’ include me?”

“You’re the only one that can stop these three. Stop them and we won’t have to worry about Emma. And I don’t know if you’ve realized, but ‘we’ has included you since you sent Henry and Emma over the town line before we were all sent back to the Enchanted Forest.”

Regina furrowed her brows and ran everything back like a song on replay in her head.

“I don’t…understand. What exactly is it you did to Maleficent? What would drive her to this level of revenge?”

Snow almost looked too scared to admit it. Whatever the answer to Regina’s question was, it weighed heavily on the other woman. Regina had seen no indication of that kind of weight or guilt in any of the years past, but perhaps the three women being back together again and in Storybrooke brought everything to the surface.

“Because of us…Maleficent lost her child,” Snow finally came out with it.

Regina was startled. She leaned back to create at least some kind of distance from Snow without actually stepping away from the other woman. It was way more information than she ever expected to take in when she agreed to meet Snow that night, but she knew she had to help no matter how unsettling all of that information was.

“Fine,” Regina agreed. “If I can find a way to insert myself into their group, I will.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now there's some Dragon Queen in this fic. Oops! :D

After hours at the diner was as shady as Regina’s prior meet-up with Snow, except the women she went to see at the diner were much stronger and meaner than Snow White even on her absolute worst day. Granny apparently didn’t put much effort into protecting her business because Regina easily walked into the diner. Just as easily as the other three women already inside must have entered the establishment.

Immediately, Regina was reminded that villains didn’t favor much lighting because the diner lights remained off even as the four of them gathered inside it. She noticed Cruella and Ursula seated on opposite sides but across from each other in one of the booths off to the left of the entrance while Maleficent approached her with a straight face, jaw set. The blonde wore a gray vest and pantsuit complete with a fedora to match and a silver silk tie and dragon brooch to add to the ensemble.

“So the rumors are true. You’re back from the ashes,” Regina said in lieu of a greeting as she looked over the other woman from head to toe.

Maleficent smirked as she also sized Regina up. She had her hands in her pockets and she looked much different in Storybrooke than she had her in purple and black dresses in the Enchanted Forest. The pantsuit certainly wasn’t an unappealing look on the other woman, Regina had to admit.

“What are you doing here, Regina,” Maleficent asked.

“Making it easier for you,” Regina answered with a bitchy tone and villainous, Evil Queen-like attitude. “If you want to try and kill me, I’m right here.”

Maleficent disappeared and reappeared in Regina’s personal space like a chameleon blending into its surroundings before revealing itself again.

“So that’s why you think I’m back. To kill you.”

“I trapped you underground for thirty years,” Regina flatly said with a slight growl and rumble to her voice. “And you’re not big on forgiveness.”

“That’s true,” Maleficent replied while Ursula looked to Cruella as the scene played out before them.

Cruella took a drink. Neither she nor Ursula looked too entertained by the standoff, but neither of them looked away.

“But that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. There are worse crimes that must be answered for,” Maleficent added.

“Careful, darling,” Cruella warned the blonde. “She’s thick as thieves with those heroes.”

“Not by choice,” Regina darkly stated, her eyes fixated only on Maleficent. “You know how much I wanted my revenge, but in this town? I had to play nice just to survive. _Alone_. Watching them enjoy the happiness I was denied. If you’re planning on destroying some of that happiness? I want in.”

“You can’t expect us to believe that,” Ursula said with distrusting eyes and a cold tone.

“Of course she doesn’t,” Maleficent responded for the brunette. “That’s why she’s here. She wants us to see she’s still one of us.”

“I am.”

“Then let’s find out,” Maleficent demanded with a more sultry than commanding tone of voice.

Maleficent turned and grabbed a shot glass with a full shot of clear liquid inside it. She held it out to the brunette and Regina watched her very closely. She wasn’t sure what the contents of the glass were, but she knew she didn’t have the time or the authority to do so. If she ever planned on successfully going undercover, she had to do what they did and what they asked without complaint or curiosity. It just wasn’t the way of villains to think twice before doing something. If they wanted it, they took it.

“Are you still a bad girl, Regina,” Maleficent asked with red, red lips and a stern expression on her face.

The blonde was the perfect leader for the witches. She’d been wronged many times, as had Regina, and she wasn’t willing to go soft to get what she wanted most. The less than reformed side of Regina admired that. Even the more good and light half of herself admired and respected Maleficent’s strength. It was one of the reasons why they were ever friends in the first place. Because, like Emma, Maleficent understood her. They understood each other and they would both go to great lengths to get what they wanted and thought they deserved.

Cruella and Ursula watched intently, both so eagerly and deviously enthralled while they waited for the brunette’s answer, as Regina accepted the shot with a subtle grin.

Regina tossed back the drink without even blinking then crushed the glass in a black-gloved fist.

“The worst,” Regina finally answered with calculating, fiery eyes as she let the bits of glass slip from her hand and tumble onto the floor.

She felt a little naked without her dresses and pinned up hair, but for the most part she felt an old and familiar rush. She wasn’t tempted to turn back to her evil ways, but she liked putting on a show. She missed the dramatic aspects of her life after Leopold and before the curse.

“Any reason the sign out front still says open when we’re the only ones in here,” Regina decided to ask once she wiped her hands clean of the remaining bits of glass.

Maleficent chuckled and confessed, “We _excused_ the rest of the customers and the old woman.”

“Is that your polite way of saying you scared them off?”

“What’s it to you,” Ursula asked, still unconvinced of Regina’s alliance.

Regina finally looked away from Maleficent for the first time since she entered the diner. She spoke directly to Ursula when she said, “Because I can’t tell you how much I would have liked to see the looks on their faces. It’s been a while since any of them respected me as the Queen I once was before creating this town.”

It was a good enough answer that none of the other woman questioned it. Ursula, Cruella, and even Maleficent let it be while Maleficent walked back over to the booth.

“Come,” Maleficent instructed with a slightly playful lilt to her words. “Join us. We have a few things to discuss.”

Maleficent took her place at Cruella’s side in the booth and left Regina to sit beside Ursula. She was cautious but not shaken as she made her way to the Sea Witch’s side and slid into the side of the booth across the table from the other two women.

“Would you like a drink,” Maleficent asked almost sweetly.

“Why not,” Regina smirked as she answered.

Maleficent made a drink appear in her hand and set it down on the table in front of the brunette.

“I hope you still prefer whiskey,” Maleficent said with cruelly upturned lips.

“Of course. My tastes haven’t changed, dear,” she replied as she lifted the tumbler of amber liquid to her mouth.

Ursula and Cruella shared a look before Maleficent let out a breath of laughter then said, “So I’ve heard.”

Regina crinkled her brow for a moment as she took a sip of her drink and considered Maleficent’s words and how she said them.

“But that’s not what we’re here to talk about,” the blonde changed the subject. “Obviously the three of us are here for a reason.”

Regina nodded and set down her drink.

“We have plans to find someone who can give us all something we desperately crave,” Maleficent continued.

“Oh?” Regina was genuinely intrigued.

“We think you can help…if you’re willing, darling,” Cruella jumped in and asked.

“You’ll still have to show us you’re willing,” Maleficent deadpanned as she closely watched Regina’s reaction. “We want to make it so that the heroes _never_ get another happy ending again.”

Cruella looked Regina up and down several times over while the three of them watched and waited for a response from her.

Regina felt like a pet or plaything to the three women that surrounded her. She wasn’t terrified like most people in her position probably would have felt, but she wasn’t entirely comfortable either. She shifted in the booth and leaned forward on her forearms as she rested them on the table.

“What do you need me to do?”

* * *

Maleficent proudly and deviously grinned at the object in front of them. It wasn’t at all what Regina had had in mind when she agreed to go undercover, but it was certainly better than playing chicken with a train. It was a compromise since Regina had to play hero and save the group from being rammed and flattened on the tracks, and in such a luxurious car. The least Regina could do was join in on the fun Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula were set on having, even if she really didn’t want to destroy town property.

“Come on, Regina,” Maleficent encouraged her. “You get the first go at it.”

Regina pursed her lips and sighed through her nose as she kept her eyes fixated on the sheriff’s department cruiser that was parked in front of her on the road that wound around the town and ran past the town line. She stared too long at the car, an object she shouldn’t have cared too much about in the grand scheme of things as she tried to prove herself to the other three women, but she was the mayor. It was her job to care about town property. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know people in the sheriff’s department, people who frequently used the vehicle that sat before her as part of her Bad Girls Gang initiation.

“We’ve all been wronged by the so-called law in this town,” Maleficent added when Regina made no further move to do what the blonde wanted her to do.

“That prince followed Ursula and I around town all day,” Cruella butted in. “We can’t have our fun if we’re being followed.”

“Besides,” Maleficent began again and started to saunter toward Regina. Regina tracked her movements with her eyes. “If you’ve been pretending to play along with those _heroes_ all this time, they’ve been holding you back. Time to let your hair down again, Regina.”

Maleficent came to stand at Regina’s side, her front pressed against the brunette’s arm and chest due to her angle. The other woman brought her hand up to Regina’s hair and gently, tenderly, ran her fingers through it as she tucked a few strands behind the brunette’s ear. Regina had already had a few shots before the group left the diner and it wasn’t just whiskey or Cruella’s gin in her shot glasses. Between that booze hound and Maleficent’s taste in all kinds of euphoric beverages from the Enchanted Forest, Regina felt a little unsteady on her feet. She also felt a pleasant buzz that made her body vibrate with ecstasy and relief.

Maleficent’s touch ignited a spark within Regina as it left her with a tingling sensation that started where Maleficent made contact and then washed over the rest of her body like a wave against a shore. She fought to keep her eyes open and not look as high up in the clouds as she felt, but the other woman knew when and how to touch her, especially after alcohol had started to impair her better judgment. They’d been friends long enough, been _more_ than friends plenty of times before as well, for her to gauge Regina’s level of compliance and pleasure.  

“Show me how bad you are,” Maleficent purred in Regina’s ear.

Instead of closing her eyes as she succumbed to Maleficent’s wishes, a fireball formed in the palm of her hand in response to the blonde’s words.

Cruella ran her hand over her fur coat a few times as she grinned at Maleficent and Regina and then turned to Ursula. Ursula closed the space between them and placed a hand on Cruella’s lower back. Cruella closed her eyes and hummed, her grin still in place, while she slowed the hand on the fur wrapped around her chest and shoulder as Ursula rubbed circles over the small of her back.

Regina flung her fireball at the sheriff’s car and flames instantly arose and crackled as the four of them watched the cruiser burn.

Maleficent chuckled beside her before she took a deep breath and then blew it out with an added heat that came from being part-dragon. When she torched the rest of the car, she turned back to look at Regina again and smirked as she brought her face close enough for her nose to graze Regina’s cheek.

“You once reminded me of who I am,” Maleficent told her. “Now I’m going to do the same for you.”

Regina bit her bottom lip and after a moment, Maleficent continued to smirk as she playfully smacked Regina’s ass then tugged her away from the car with a hand wrapped around the brunette’s waist.

* * *

Early the next morning, Emma was the least pleased out of everyone to hear that Regina was trying to work with the villainous trio as part of an undercover operation. The main reason for that was because the only other people who knew about Regina’s plan to infiltrate the sorceress’ inner circle were David and Snow. She never once thought of Regina as an impulsive idiot before, but when her parents explained how she intended to get information out of the three new villains in town she was inclined to think just that.

She made Hook join in her search to help her cover more ground while she forced her parents to do what they should have done before Emma got involved and made them drive around the other half of town she didn’t cover. If they found Regina, they were supposed to tell her right away. They’d already risked Regina’s life and her redemption by letting her go undercover and Emma couldn’t understand why they didn’t think to be more careful and protective of Regina. The brunette wasn’t just going undercover for herself. She couldn’t have. She wasn’t that foolish. If her parents approved of her choice to do that, it meant that they expected to get something out of it, too.

She replayed the conversation with her parents over and over again in her head as she rushed around town in search of the other woman.

“Why would you let her do this,” she’d asked. “And why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“Why are you so concerned about Regina,” Snow had responded with a frown, furrowed brow, and question of her own.

“Because I can help! And she might need backup.”

Even when Emma had told her parents to scour the entire town, no stone left unturned, for Regina, her parents still didn’t understand the level of her panic. She didn’t quite understand it herself, but she didn’t have the time to really think about it. All she knew was that Regina might have been in trouble and she wasn’t about to let anything happen to the brunette. They were a team and Henry needed both of his mothers. He’d already lost his father and Regina sacrificed herself too often as it was. If she was hurt or killed, Emma would never forgive herself for not stepping in and Henry could easily have blamed her for letting it happen, too. She’d made Henry a promise a while back and she had to commit to it for the rest of her life. Regina wasn’t going to die. At least not in battle or undercover and not for many more years to come.

Hook came out of Granny’s and reported that Regina had been there last night.

“According to Granny, they drank all of her liquor,” he told her.

Great. Not only was Regina with the dark-hearted group of women she’d probably known, and maybe gotten along with, in the Enchanted Forest, but she’d gotten drunk with them as well. Apparently the Evil Trio took drinking buddies to a new level of entertainment and probably disaster.

She had to find Regina.

* * *

Empty bottles littered the floor in her vault and she felt absolutely wrecked. It had been a while since Regina had indulged herself in that much to drink and then proceeded to expend a great deal of magic for petty reasons like enjoyment and small scale revenge. She bent down and grabbed the two bottles left in the most frequently used section of her vault and placed them back on the drink cart she kept in the corner beside her mirror.

“Sorry we couldn’t stay to clean,” she heard Maleficent say just before she turned around to see the blonde in the archway with her crisp, gray pantsuit and stylistically tilted hat.

“That’s okay,” Regina groaned a little, though she meant it to sound more intimating than tired. “You need the beauty sleep more than I do.”

Maleficent removed her coat and started to fold it before she draped it over one of her arms. Regina felt the other woman’s eyes on her as she slowly sat down on the bench between the archway and the drink cart.

Regina sighed as she lowered herself down for a break between her self-imposed clean up routine and she looked down and away from the blonde. She tried to hide her face as much as possible from the other woman who looked more alive than ever after only recently being brought back from the dead. Regina was the one who looked like she’d been resurrected in the last day or two and she hated that it showed.

“It’s good to see you again, Regina,” Maleficent smiled as she walked over toward the bench. “Hope you had fun last night.”

“Last night, yes,” she answered as she started to fix her jacket and tighten it around her waist. “This morning? No.”

“Maybe I can help.” Regina continued to slowly fasten her jacket while Maleficent reached into her pocket for a solution to the brunette’s problems. “With this world’s version of magic.”

Regina finished with her jacket then tuned to face Maleficent again and ran a hand through her hair just before the blonde held out her hand. Maleficent offered two white pills to her and Regina scrunched up her face with distrust and a few questions as to what exactly Maleficent was trying to give her.

“Don’t worry. It’s not poison. It’s aspirin. They help with the pain,” Maleficent shrugged.

“I know what they are,” Regina said as she looked from the pills to Maleficent. “It’s just you’re not _usually_ nice.”

Regina’s lips curled into a small grin as she considered the other woman. Maybe something had shifted between them last night. Maybe locking her up in the library’s basement for almost thirty years was a crime against her the blonde had already forgiven Regina for. Or maybe she and Maleficent had done more than she could remember from the previous night.

Regina accepted the pills and Maleficent kept a straight face even as she handed over the aspirin, stepped over to the mirror, and made sure she still looked suave.  

“Nice has nothing to do with it,” Maleficent replied. “I need you sharp tonight.”

“For what? More games?”

“No,” Maleficent abandoned the mirror and turned to Regina. She was all too serious for a moment before her eyes raked over Regina’s black leather dress, similar but much shorter than the one from the prior night. “Although I certainly wouldn’t mind playing a few.”

Maleficent smirked as her piercing blue eyes admired and appreciated the way Regina’s leggings clung to her legs. She envied the way the woman could pull off ankle-high boots as well as the knee-highs like the ones she had in the Enchanted Forest. She licked her bright red lips as she scanned over the hem of the dress where it rode up mid-thigh while she sat.

“My, my, don’t you look delectable as ever,” Maleficent purred.

Regina subtly cleared her throat and tried to adjust her jacket again as though that would shield her from Maleficent’s memories and vivid imagination.

“No need to be shy,” Maleficent continued and took the few small steps toward Regina to eliminate the distance between them in the small space. “Don’t forget who gave you all those leather pants when you stopped wearing those rustic, light colored vests and innocent white shirts.”

Just like that, Regina was reminded of the first time Maleficent lent her an outfit when she decided she wanted to change her look. She’d poofed herself to the Forbidden Fortress after a lonely day in the palace and while she knew better than to ask for the blonde’s advice, something she’d learned quickly after she first met the other woman, she did seek out the woman for comfort. Maleficent didn’t pride herself on nurturing people. She had a gentle soul underneath all the makeup and plunging necklines, but she rarely showed anyone the true capability of her heart and how much compassion she could have for some people.

She wasn’t exactly compassionate later that evening when she had Regina pinned to her bed, naked and moaning for more, or even when Regina flipped their positions, but her touches were gentle enough more often than not and Maleficent always let Regina stay with her as long as the brunette needed to escape. Maleficent also never passed up the opportunity to cuddle, especially in dragon form. Neck nuzzles and a few soothing or playful licks to the neck and face from her dragon friend made Regina smile and laugh until she was finally ready to ditch her innocence completely.

When Maleficent offered her leather outfits from her own closet, things were less delicate and sweet between the two of them. Both women attacked each other with a carnal desire left dormant while they started slow and took the time to learn each other a little more first. Teeth and nail marks covered both women before their time together was through and both were sated in more ways than one. But Regina also remembered the cuddling never stopped even when their gentleness and slower paces had. They would collapse beside or on top of each other and wound up curled into one another within the hour whether either of meant for it to happen.

Regina definitely hadn’t forgotten that there was no reason to be shy around Maleficent. She’d given Maleficent as good as she got and the blonde had seen all of Regina. She’d seen her stripped bare and needy. She’d seen her before she was the Evil Queen and she’d seen her grow into her magic. She’d seen her become the Evil Queen and watched her friend fall apart as her revenge consumed every last part of her heart and mind. Maleficent truly had seen it all when it came to Regina and that was why Regina was more guarded around her than Cruella and Ursula. Maleficent knew things Regina couldn’t be sure wouldn’t be used against her later.

In the vault, Maleficent moved forward and reached out for the buttons that held Regina’s jacket closed. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, her fingers pried open the jacket and she pushed the black leather off the brunette’s shoulders. It was familiar and while Regina was too tired to shrug off the other woman’s advances, she also liked what the woman did.

“No more games, Regina,” Maleficent purred and sat down on the bench beside her.

Maleficent placed a hand on her thigh and slowly moved it toward the apex of her legs. Her palm glided over dark leggings and Regina gripped the edge of bench with both hands. She looked down at her lap and closed her eyes before she gasped and tried not to spread her legs for the other woman.

Brunette hair fell around her face and blocked her expression from Maleficent’s view, but the blonde easily changed that when she brushed Regina’s hair out of her face with nails painted red to match her lips. Maleficent’s hand slid beneath the hem of Regina’s dress and she squeezed her knees together even though her hips bucked toward Maleficent’s hand. Her body wanted one thing, but her mind refused it. She couldn’t appear desperate.

“You want to know why we’re in this town,” Maleficent asked, her breath hot against Regina’s cheekbone.

Regina gulped and opened her eyes just before Maleficent stilled her hand and kept her fingers poised on Regina’s upper inner thigh far enough away not to touch her between the legs, but high enough on her thigh that one swift move would have changed that.

She took a couple of seconds to collect herself and when she did, Regina turned her head to look at Maleficent as the other woman spoke to her. Her eyes were darker than usual, but were steeled over with a confidence Regina only exhibited as the controlling Mayor or the Evil Queen.

“We’re after the same thing you are,” Maleficent continued and continued to keep her hand still on her thigh. “The Author.”

Maleficent curled her fingers and dug her nails into Regina’s legs through her leggings.

Regina’s lips parted in surprise that Maleficent even knew about the Author, but they also parted with the promise of a half-whimper, half-moan that she struggled to but successfully stifled.

“How do you know about the Author,” Regina asked and hoped it would take her mind off of Maleficent’s hand.

“Rumpelstiltskin,” the blonde answered. “He spilled the whole story to Cruella back in New York.”

“Well, good luck finding him,” Regina smirked. “I’ve been looking for him for months.”

“But you’ve been going about it all wrong.” Maleficent slid her hand down Regina’s thigh, back toward the woman’s knee, and then started to slowly run it up and down over her thigh again and again. “What you need are some new allies. With new leads on this _author_.”

Regina’s breath hitched as Maleficent’s hand came closer to her sex than it ever had since the blonde had walked into her vault that day.

“And these…new leads,” Regina asked when she managed to regain some semblance of control over her actions and feelings. “Do they have anything to do with this powerful magic you’re hiding?”

“Before I let you in on that little secret,” Maleficent said and gripped the other woman’s shoulder and neck. “I’ve got a little job for you.”

Maleficent stared into Regina’s eyes and tried to assess the brunette’s reactions to her touch and overly-comfortable proximity. She grinned and removed her hand from underneath Regina’s dress while she stood up in the same swift movement.

“Meet me at the library tonight. 9 o’clock. We need you to steal something,” Maleficent vaguely explained.

“Steal what?”

“Meet me later and I’ll tell you then.” Maleficent winked at her before she sauntered off and left Regina alone in the vault.

* * *

It was because of Regina’s foolish bravery that Emma followed her parents to the library later that night after Regina called Snow and asked to discreetly meet her. Hook tagged along too because he was already with Emma when Snow got the call and David also agreed to go so he figured he’d join them.

Emma didn’t really care one way or the other if he went with them. Usually he just waited for them to figure it out or until at least one of them asked for his help, which was rare. But if he really wanted to play hero, she wasn’t going to hold it against him. At least he wasn’t just doing it for her. And if he was, it didn’t really matter anyway because she had more important things to deal with. Like yelling at Regina for trying to get back in to the Evil Mafia without consulting her first.

There was no way in hell she was going to let her friend do that for so many reasons. One of which was because it was dangerous and if something happened to her it would kill Henry. Another very important and very good reason to not let her join up with any evil forces was because she was still on the path to redemption. Emma refused to see her as a villain and hadn’t seen her as one for a very long time—honestly hadn’t ever really seen her as one before, but there were still other people in town that needed to be further convinced she meant them no harm. On top of losing the people’s already wary and potentially waning trust, pretending to be a villain was the easiest way for the brunette to relapse and go back to seeking revenge instead of happiness.

“Hey, we’re here,” David quietly said as the four of them walked through the main floor of the library and tiptoed toward the back of the room.

Regina slipped out from behind one of the book shelves and looked far from satisfied as she took in the turnout of their meeting.

“I said we needed to meet covertly,” she explained. “Now I see you brought the entire Charming softball team _and_ their pirate mascot?”

“We were worried about you,” Snow said.

“Well then worry quickly,” Regina told her. “I can’t be seen with all of you.”

“Regina, listen to me,” Emma hurried to express her thoughts before the other woman kicked them out. “This is a bad idea. This woman, this dragon, she’s dangerous and you don’t know the first thing about going undercover.”

Regina shook her head and was ready to scoff at the blonde before she defensively said, “I’m a quick study. And Maleficent already told me why they’re here.”

Emma looked over at her parents who at that point had most of Regina’s attention. Snow looked surprised and David looked less surprised but definitely a little more worried. Emma looked back at Regina just before the other woman met her gaze.

“Apparently they’re after the Author too,” Regina confessed with a sigh.

Then Emma was the one who was surprised. She was also curious and unsure of what that could possibly mean for Operation Mongoose.

“I simply want him to change my fate,” Regina continued.

“What do _they_ want,” Emma asked.

“They want to shift the entire balance so that villains win and heroes lose,” Regina explained to the three of them, Hook neglected as he waited in the shadows behind the Charming family. “They feel the only way to get their happy ending is to destroy yours.”

Emma was hyper-aware of the way Regina looked at her when she mentioned the last part about destroying happy endings. For a moment, she was confused, but she really didn’t have the time to wonder why Regina chose to focus more on her than anyone else in the room.

“Do you think they can find the Author,” Emma asked as she tried to stay out of her own head and keep up with the conversation. She had to be quick about everything before they had to leave the library in case anyone else saw them all together, but it was hard to be quick when every answer said gave Emma more questions.

Regina nodded and looked a little sad to admit, “They have a lead we don’t. And tonight they want me to help them steal it.”

Emma parted her lips and stared with wide eyes at Regina while she listened to the other woman share the trio’s plans with all of them. It worried her more than she thought possible to hear any of what Regina had just said, but it worried her the most when Regina spoke softer as she shared one final piece of information with the four of them.

“Whatever _it_ is.”

Regina didn’t even know what she was stealing. Emma had been down that road before. Theft and trusting other people and having to work with those people to pull off something sneaky or frowned upon or both.

“I’m telling you,” Emma practically begged her, “these things never end well.”

“I understand your concern,” Regina said with some of the softest eyes Emma could ever remember having directed at her, “but I’m in.”

 Emma hesitated as she kept her eyes on Regina for a moment before she turned to her parents. Her parents seemed completely on board with Regina’s decision and while that concerned her how easily they allowed the brunette to put her life on the line for every single person in the town—most of which were seen as the heroes with happy endings already waiting for them while Regina still fought for hers—she chose to focus on her next course of action.

“Okay, well then I’m in, too,” Emma stated.

If her parents were already resigned to letting Regina go undercover and work both for and against the other witches at her own risk then Emma was resigned to being the only one that was on Regina’s side. Again.

“What?” Regina didn’t sound happy with that answer.

“I’m gonna stick by you,” Emma said with a passive shrug with her hands in her jacket pockets like what she was saying shouldn’t surprise anyone. “I’m gonna get your back while you do this.”

“No,” Regina insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I said I was a part of Operation Mongoose and I’m a part of it,” Emma argued. “You wanted my help, now you’re gonna get it. No matter what that means for both of us.”

She made sure her tone left no room for argument and she saw it in Regina’s eyes that the brunette didn’t want to fight about it anymore. Or maybe there was more to Regina’s expression than that. Emma wasn’t exactly sure how to describe the way the other woman looked at her, but she was sure Regina was done trying to push her away and keep her far from whatever her next part of the plan was against Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula.

Regina sighed and shook her head as she looked directly into big, determined green eyes. She’d said it before and Emma either didn’t want to listen or just didn’t care. It was too dangerous, more than Emma could know at that point. The younger woman’s decision to stick with her during her undercover operation was brave and sweet, but also a serious risk.

“Wait a minute,” Snow exclaimed as she stepped between the two of them. “Emma, you can’t be serious.”

“Whatever she has planned tonight? I’ll be there,” Emma promised Regina and ignored her parents.

* * *

Maleficent had extended a courtesy to Regina and gave her plenty of time to decide if she really wanted to prove herself to the group and during the time Maleficent spent away from Regina, she was with Cruella, Ursula and Rumple in the cabin. There, Cruella learned that Regina suffered from a hangover and as if it wasn’t apparent by the haze in Regina’s eyes the prior night, the woman could no longer hold her liquor as well as she used to.

At the cabin, Maleficent had asked Cruella for a favor, but the blonde also offered to give her and Ursula some alone time when she asked for it. Cruella immediately did what Maleficent requested and enchanted her beautiful car to take Maleficent and Regina to the location where Regina would be tested before they all met up at the cabin again. As soon as the enchantment was enacted, Maleficent left them to their own devices with a knowing smirk and within the next few minutes, Ursula and Cruella used one of two bedrooms in the cabin while Rumple was off trying to retrieve his dagger.

As soon as they walked through the bedroom door, Cruella shrugged out of her coat and dropped it on the bed as she turned back to Ursula. The black, leather shirt she wore concealed most of her chest, but showcased her upper arms and the the rounded edges of her shoulder. There was a certain kind of seduction in the way her breasts were more concealed than expected and she could see it in Ursula’s wandering eyes that it had just the right effect on the only person she cared to impress.

She scratched her head with long, red painted nails and scanned over Ursula from head to toe.

“You know, we could talk about Regina and Maleficent,” Cruella started to say, “or we spend our time doing much more satisfying things.”

“You just want to use that collar on me,” Ursula said and crossed her arms over her chest while she cocked a hip and raised a brow.

Cruella pouted and slowly walked away from the bed and toward Ursula.

“You used your tentacles last time,” she argued and continued to strut toward the other woman. “My breasts are _still_ a little sensitive. It’s only fair I get to use something on you now.”

“Even if I agreed, we don’t have time for that.”

“Nonsense, darling. We always have time for that,” Cruella flashed a devilish grin and her eyes sparkled with a wild glimmer.

Ursula rolled her eyes, but slowly started to smile.

“There’s my girl,” Cruella purred and stopped right in front of the darker woman. She tucked a finger under Ursula’s chin and ensured the woman held her gaze for as long as she wanted them to maintain eye contact.

“If we do this, you have to make me a promise,” Ursula said after a moment.

“Anything you want.”

Ursula took a quick but deep breath and confessed, “Promise to be a part of my happy ending.”

Cruella searched Ursula’s eyes for a few seconds while her own eyes slightly widened in shock.

“I’m not sure I can do that,” she confessed. “It’s much too soon to make that kind of promise.”

“Then at least promise you won’t run when this is all over. Promise me that once we’re successful with this author business, you’ll stick around this time.”

Cruella continued to search Ursula’s eyes while she thought it over. She slowly took one step closer to Ursula, their lips almost touching, and her own features softened.

“I’ll stick around,” she said before her eyes dropped down to Ursula’s lips and she moved in for a kiss.

Ursula fell forward before Cruella could close the rest of the small space between them and their lips pressed together in a tender kiss. It was the first one in a long time that wasn’t gnashing and biting teeth or untamed passion upon its moment of intoxicating release. It was slow and deliberate and compassionate in a way the two of them hadn’t been since the last time they were together, before Cruella ran off to find a rich husband to support the kind of lavish lifestyle she preferred.

When they ended the kiss, both women stared intensely into each other’s eyes before something dangled just off to their right side between the two of them. Ursula smiled and Cruella turned her head to see the dog collar hanging from the tip of one of Ursula’s tentacles.

“Care to do the honors,” Ursula asked.

Cruella bit her lip and looked once again at the other woman. She grinned, though it was more like an overexcited smile, and she slipped the collar off of the woman’s tentacle.

“Put that thing away before you hurt someone,” Cruella playfully instructed.

“I think you mean before I pleasure someone,” Ursula teased in response.

Cruella chuckled and undid the collar before she brought it up to Ursula’s neck and fastened it around soft skin like a choker. Once it was on the other woman, she curled a finger around it and pulled Ursula toward her. She whispered into Ursula’s ear first and said, “Dalmatian is the safe word, darling. I’ll try to be gentle…every so often.”

She kissed Ursula’s cheek and the darker woman nodded afterward.

“Are you alright with this,” Cruella calmly asked and made sure to look Ursula in the eyes as the woman voiced her answer.

“Yes.”

Cruella smiled and leaned in again. She puckered her lips a little and then blew into Ursula’s ear. Her magic left through her lips and traveled into Ursula’s mind through the woman’s eardrum. It was how she manipulated animals, but it was also how she could telepathically communicate with Ursula. The collar had nothing to do with her power of persuasion over Ursula because the woman wasn’t entirely human. It just made Cruella hot and wet to see Ursula wear it.

Ursula closed her eyes as Cruella’s magic seeped into her and told her what was desired from her. In less than a minute, Ursula pushed Cruella backward until the other woman’s knees buckled from the force in which they hit the edge of the bed. She sank to her knees on the floor in front of Cruella then spread her legs and yanked down her underwear and fitting black leather pants.

Cruella moaned and tipped her head back before Ursula even touched her the way she needed to be touched by the darker woman.

“There’s my girl,” Cruella throatily repeated her words from earlier just a second before her lower body was completely exposed, boots quickly removed with the help of a couple of tentacles. Not long after she was stripped, she felt a skillful tongue against her and moaned with delight.

* * *

Emma traded keys with her parents and swapped her bright and obvious Bug for her father’s only slightly more subtle copper and cream colored truck. She, and thankfully at least David, agreed it would be the better vehicle to stakeout and tail the meet up Regina said would take place in half an hour right outside the library.

Hook fought to keep Emma company and look out for her while she insisted on looking out for Regina, but she didn’t hesitate to tell him he would only get in the way. It sounded rude as she said it and she cringed at her own words after she’d told him that, but she didn’t apologize and he accepted his place—which was anywhere but near her—in Emma’s plan to have Regina’s back. Emma was grateful for that. One less person to fight on why and how she was going to do whatever she could to protect Regina.

She waited in the truck at the end of the street in clear view of Regina as the brunette leaned back against the library just off to the side of the main doors. The wind that night wasn’t at all calm and Emma stared hard at the other woman as brunette locks twisted, curled, and blew in every direction. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Regina looked like a model at a high-fashion photo shoot. She could have easily been posing for the front cover of a well-regarded magazine and Emma couldn’t help but appreciate and admire the sight.

Regina looked less than pleased if her expression was anything to go by, but from that distance Emma couldn’t tell exactly how the other woman felt about the setup. She knew from their conversation inside the library a little over thirty minutes ago that Regina didn’t want her to be anywhere near Regina while she was with the other three women, but she wasn’t going to leave Regina. She wouldn’t.

Before she lost herself in her thoughts, a car showed up and slowed down until it came to a full stop on the street directly in front of where Regina stood. Maleficent, in human form for the first time in front of Emma, strutted over to Regina’s side with a slight smirk. In that moment, Emma finally got a clear picture of the woman Regina had once described as an old friend who wouldn’t want to hear from her while trapped under the library.

The woman had striking eyes and blonde hair almost the same shade as Emma’s. She couldn’t be sure what type of outfits Maleficent favored, but she knew the woman at least enjoyed the 1940s pantsuit and fedora look based on the bold outfit she chose to wear that night. She looked dapper and dominant and Emma wondered why Maleficent stared so hard at Regina.

Maleficent barely blinked and from her position against the wall of the library, Emma thought Maleficent might have spotted her by now. But she couldn’t see Emma when her almost unblinking eyes were fixated on Regina. Emma felt tension knot and build in a majority of her body, though she didn’t understand why she bristled in the first place. She tried to blame it on the fact that Regina was too close to the villains and that made her worried and uncomfortable, but something else nagged at her. She was about to shake it off and focus when she noticed Regina grin in response to something Maleficent said and then something completely unexpected happened.

Maleficent stepped forward and extended a hand to Regina. The brunette accepted it and Maleficent pulled Regina toward the pristine and thoroughly waxed black and white car with doors that apparently opened by magic. At the last second before Emma assumed Maleficent was going to chivalrously ease Regina into the driver’s seat, the recently revived blonde spun Regina around with a quick tug and flick of her hand, the one that held Regina’s own hand in her grasp. In an instant, Maleficent pinned Regina against the side of the car and fluidly stepped between Regina’s legs.

Regina gazed into Maleficent’s eyes with a hint of tenderness and a lot of dark playfulness and amusement.  

The tension Emma once felt turned into something else and her face dropped, surprised and maybe a little hurt, as she watched Regina say something to Maleficent. Whatever the brunette said seemed to please Maleficent because the suspected head of the Female Villains Club leaned in and pressed her face into Regina’s neck.

Emma couldn’t tell what Maleficent was doing to Regina, but by the evident change in Regina’s expression as her eyes slipped closed it was something Regina liked. _Really_ liked. She saw Regina bite her bottom lip while Maleficent further buried her face in the woman’s neck and Emma was captivated and, for some reason, devastated at the same time.

Emma wanted to leave. She hadn’t wanted to run in a little over a year as badly as she wanted to run in that moment, but she still wouldn’t leave Regina. She continued to stare at the shocking and disappointing sight of Regina as she took back some control and laced her fingers in pinned back and partially curled blonde hair at the nape of Maleficent’s neck. She yanked Maleficent away from her own neck and forced the other woman to make eye contact with her before she crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. That kiss alone put all the kisses Emma had ever had with Hook to shame. It was hotter than Emma expected from the woman who had wanted to find the author of Henry’s storybook so he could write her happy ending with a man who had the same scrunched up expression on his face _all the time_ , or so she imaged that was what Regina wanted as her happy ending. Even if Regina didn’t want Robin, however, she’d still dated the guy. Maleficent was a much bigger step up from freaking Robin Hood, at least in Emma’s eyes.

Regina unpinned Maleficent’s hair and combed through it so blonde tresses tumbled down just past the woman’s shoulders. Emma thought it was a practical move because really, when Regina had tangled her hand in Maleficent’s hair she’d pulled it askew. It looked much better untamed when it wasn’t trying to stay coiffed because of those pins. That shouldn’t have been the predominant thought in Emma’s mind, though. And honestly, it wasn’t. She just didn’t want to think about how she felt when she saw Regina being so passionate with the other blonde. The way they continued to go at each other, Emma was most surprised by the fact that Maleficent’s hat still remained on her head, though just barely.

Maleficent trailed a hand down Regina’s side and Emma stared, enthralled as Maleficent hiked up Regina’s dress. Although Regina wore charcoal leggings, Emma had a good view of the woman’s leg. The leggings tightly hugged her thighs and ass and Emma realized she might have been a little jealous of Maleficent and the path her hand was permitted to travel.

Just as Maleficent’s hand reached up and firmly gripped Regina’s ass over her leggings, Regina grabbed the other woman’s hat and took it from her a second before she shoved the blonde away with a hand to the chest. Then she did the hottest thing Emma thought she’d ever seen Regina do, and that included parading around in her vault in an Evil Queen dress. Regina actually put the hat on herself and tipped it down over her forehead a little, titled to one side as she victoriously smirked at Maleficent.

Both women’s lipstick were smeared, but only Regina had the mind to try and wipe it off of the corners of her mouth. Maleficent just stood there with shock on her face as she looked at Regina. To Emma, that look said Maleficent was stuck in a state of disbelief because Regina had dared to turn her down and then steal her hat.

Then, Emma furrowed her brow as she struggled to read Regina’s lips when the brunette told Maleficent, “Get in.”

Finally, Maleficent looked satisfied and proud and still slightly turned on from what Emma could tell. She grinned back at Regina before she listened to her friend and walked around the front of the car. She slid into the passenger’s seat and had Regina’s attention the entire time it took her to get from one side of the car to the other.

Once Maleficent was inside, Regina’s smirk faded and she looked over at Emma with a look that puzzled the younger woman. It was sad, maybe longing or unsure, but it wasn’t the same as the confidence Regina had only seconds ago displayed when she talked and, soon after that, kissed Maleficent. Emma then happened to catch Regina’s throat flex and suddenly she figured out that Regina was definitely unsure. She was nervous. She’d just gulped and her eyes almost pleaded with Emma to leave while she still could.

But if Regina expected her to leave, her actions didn’t show it because the brunette looked down the moment before she slid into the driver’s seat and shut the door behind her. Emma cleared her throat and started the truck then put it in gear and let Regina put a decent amount of distance between them before she followed the other two to a residence she didn’t recognize.

* * *

She didn’t wait for an invitation after she knocked on the wooden work shed door before she walked in.

“Hello, Marco. Pinocchio,” Regina greeted them with a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Marco answered.

She didn’t have to bother with pleasantries if she really was about to go through with what was needed of her to truly and officially get into the group of villainous women, but she actually respected Marco and she hoped he would forgive her later for what she had to do. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t, and hadn’t already, done what was necessary to protect and save his son. All Regina was doing was trying to protect someone she cared about, too. So she knew Marco could relate, but not if he could forgive.

“Is, uh…is everything alright?”

Regina frowned and furrowed her brows. She refused to make eye contact with him and she felt horrible about the wave of her hand that sent both Marco and Pinocchio onto the floor in a comfortable sleep that would last just long enough for her to get away with the boy. She didn’t have the time to hate herself for what she had to do. She could certainly turn right back around and leave father and son unharmed or she could do as she planned and deliver the boy to Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella to help keep up with, if not ahead, of the villains for once.

She slowly and carefully approached Pinocchio then looked at the shed door, completely off balance while she second guessed herself. She knew right from wrong and what she was about to do was wrong. She used to revel in doing the wrong thing as long as it got her what she wanted, but she’d spent too much time not being so selfish and in that moment, doing the wrong thing—even if it meant it would help her find the Author—didn’t satisfy her at all. She felt regret seep into every ounce of her being even though she couldn’t allow herself to feel that way at that moment. She had to compartmentalize the things she had to do and remind herself often that what she did while undercover wasn’t who she was, especially after she continued to abstain from revenge and the darkness and anger she once harnessed so well.

She leaned in and was about to reach out for Pinocchio when the back door suddenly opened behind her. She was startled and confused and hoped more than anything that either someone else hadn’t caught her in the act or that Maleficent hadn’t come in to watch how she handled the situation. When she turned around, she was surprised and upset to see another blonde had followed her in.

“Regina,” the other woman breathed out and closed the door much quieter than she’d opened it.

“Emma,” Regina whisper-yelled. “What are you doing here?”

“I was watching you,” Emma answered and made sure to keep her voice not much louder than a whisper as well. “I saw you use a sleeping spell and my gut told me something was wrong.”

“Well, it will be if you don’t get out of here.”

“Not until you tell me what Maleficent has you in here doing,” Emma sternly demanded.

Regina rolled her eyes and huffed out a couple of sighs before she reluctantly confessed, “They’re after Pinocchio.”

“I _told_ you these things never end well. We have to do this quickly. Let’s sneak him out the back and find a safe place.”

 “A little snafu and you’re ready to pack up? What happens when Mal finds out and decides to turn into her inner dragon?”

Regina let out more anger than concern in that moment. Emma was too damn stubborn for her own good.

“This is a _child_ we’re talking about, Regina. It’s too big a risk.”

“Not if I’m there to keep him safe,” Regina raised her voice. “If they try to harm him, I’ll stop them and try to fight my way out.”

Emma shook her head, her mind seemingly blown that Regina thought that was a good idea.

“ _Three_ of them. One of you.”

Then Regina’s angry, bitchy mayor persona rose to the surface to lecture the other woman.

“I know you think I’m in over my head, but I got this,” she insisted. “You don’t know them like I do.”

“Yeah, of course I don’t. Because I don’t let a _dragon lady_ try to _take me_ against a car in the _middle_ of the street!”

Regina clenched a fist at her side and gritted her teeth.

“No, just _flying monkeys_ ,” Regina quipped.

For a moment, the two of them just stood staring at each other with frowns and sharp eyes frowns much like they stared at each other when Emma first arrived in Storybrooke. Regina’s eyes then darted to the door to ensure Maleficent wasn’t about to walk in on them and Emma finally appeared to remember how little time they actually had to discuss their personal lives. But that didn’t seem to stop her from asking another question about the personal side to Regina’s time undercover.

“You’re not just doing this to make your girlfriend happy, are you?”

Regina sighed again and flailed her arms in a frustrated gesture before she slapped her hands against her thighs.

“No. I’m not doing any of this for her.”

“Well then enlighten me. Tell me what’s really going on because ever since they got to town my superpower’s been going haywire. Like…everyone…including my own _parents_ are keeping something from me.”

A flash of guilt passed over her features for a brief, fleeting moment. Emma didn’t deserve to be lied to, but things had the potential to be much worse if Emma knew the truth. Things could be worse if she only knew her parents of all people were keeping secrets from her and she couldn’t let Emma get hurt or angry. Not like she would if she knew what Regina knew.

Regina licked her lips and made her decision, tried her best not to give anything away in how she looked or spoke to the other woman.

“Emma, the only one’s keeping secrets are Maleficent and her friends.”

She saw frustration and doubt in Emma’s eyes and the way her lips were downturned and pursed in a frown. She kept going with her explanation anyway.

“They’ve taken a page out of the heroes’ playbook. They’re working _together_ , which means _we_ have to page out of theirs and break some rules.”

Emma seemed to think it over and looked around the shed with Regina to double check they were still alone, that they still had time. When she caught Regina’s gaze, she held it for a moment and spoke up once again.

“You aren’t one of Maleficent’s friends even now that we know she’s up to all of this, are you?”

Regina looked at Emma, confused. She had no idea where that question had come from or why Emma chose that exact moment to ask it.

“What?”

“You said Maleficent and her _friends_ are the only ones keeping secrets. You aren’t one of them, are you?”

“Of course not. Emma, what would give you—” Regina stopped herself mid-question and realized how everything must have looked to her.

Her parents were lying to her and she was almost certain but didn’t want to believe it. Regina wasn’t only pretending to work with Maleficent, she was seen making out with her. If Regina was still on Emma’s side, she wouldn’t have given in to such impulses with their enemy. Or at least, she wouldn’t have done such a thing without making it clear it was a manipulation tactic to keep or gain the upper hand.

Regina took a deep breath and released it before she admitted, “Maleficent and I have a history.”

“You don’t say,” Emma dryly responded.

“But I don’t…I don’t want the same thing she does. Not anymore.”

Emma looked like a lost, wandering puppy. Out of the two of them, she was the one out of her depth, but she tried not to show most of the time. On occasion, however, she looked at Regina and let her fears, concerns, and insecurities show. Regina doubted anyone else saw them and that made keeping Snow’s secret from her all the more painful.

“Do you trust me,” she asked Emma.

The younger woman hesitated to admit it and chose not to explicitly state with a yes or no whether or not she trusted her. Instead, Emma looked from Regina to Pinocchio and clenched and unclenched her fists before she gave a more implicit but still very clear answer to the question.

“I will be right on your tail and if I see _anything_ I don’t like, I’ll come in blazing.”

Regina looked at her with parted lips and wide eyes. She thought it through for a second before she gave a small nod and then wrapped the blanket Pinocchio thankfully landed on around his little body. She lifted him onto her shoulder and carried him out to Cruella’s car where Maleficent stood in wait for her.

She carefully placed the boy in the backseat and tucked the blanket a little tighter against him to keep him warm.

Maleficent smiled at the way she treated and cared for him even though he was their kidnap victim. Regina assumed that even though she lost her child, Maleficent could bond with Regina and admire the way she mothered children. At the core, both women were always nurturers.

When Regina stood up and looked over the top of the car, she saw Maleficent’s smile twist into a smirk before she said, “It’s good to have you back.”

Regina grinned in response and waited for Maleficent to get into the car first before she pulled out her phone and held it at her hip to keep it out of Maleficent’s sight. She looked down at the phone for a long moment before she glanced back at the shed where she knew Emma was waiting to blindly and belligerently follow her into chaos. She knew without a doubt when Emma said she would burst in to stop everything as soon as something started to turn sideways that she had to separate herself from Emma. It wasn’t just so she could maintain her cover. It was mostly because she would be leading Emma to the lion’s den, or in their case the dragon’s cave, like a lamb to a slaughter.

She typed out a message she didn’t intend to send that said, “I got this” and as she wrote it, all she thought was: protect Emma. She ditched the phone in the driveway and drove off with Maleficent knowing the only thing she’d done recently that she would never regret was to leave Emma out of all that mess.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! I was sick all last week and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep and energy this week. I'm hoping/planning to have the next chapter finished by next Sunday, before the next episode of Once.

Emma pounded on the thick, white door for the third night in a row. The first night she came there was soon after Regina left her phone behind and prevented her from tracking the brunette. Regina had run off with Pinocchio to deliver him to the villainous trio and when she’d ditched her phone, she’d left Emma alone and pissed. Henry had answered the door that first night and said he hadn’t seen Regina since they did research in Regina’s office for Operation Mongoose. Emma sighed and took Henry back to the small apartment she still shared with the rest of her family, and neither of them were happy about that fact.

The second night Emma returned because Henry was just as worried as Emma. Regina hadn’t even come to get Henry or ask Emma where he was or _how_ he was. No one in town had seen Regina all day either. It was troubling to say the very least. But on that night, the third night since Regina left her behind, Emma was done waiting. She pulled a long pin she decided to bring with her in case Regina didn’t answer again. She stuck the pin in the lock and swiftly picked it. She shut and locked the door behind her, called out for Regina a few times, and made her way to the kitchen. She poked around and helped herself to a drink and then raided the brunette’s fridge. She hadn’t eaten much in all the time she’d been worried about Regina and the Queens of Darkness. There was an entire house with food and other supplies and none of it was being used while Regina was away. If Henry had been there, the food would be eaten anyway so it wasn’t like she was completely depleting Regina’s groceries. But if that’s what she did then so be it. It would serve the other woman right after abandoning Emma.

There were a few leftovers in Ziploc containers in the fridge and before she ate one, she smelled it and determined it was still good. Regina, even when undercover, kept a clean house it seemed. Emma dumped the food onto a plate and heated it up in the microwave then dirtied a dish and some utensils that Emma didn’t bother to clean afterward. She left the dish in the sink and only rinsed it off for a moment then left it to soak.

She made herself comfortable on the couch and flipped through a few channels on the TV before she found something decent enough. She slowly started to drift off, but tried to stay awake and alert in case Regina finally decided to come home. She only lasted for a couple of hours before she fell asleep in Regina’s living room while the TV softly droned on.

* * *

She woke up alone, as expected, but the TV was off and there was a blanket draped over her. When she realized someone had come in and taken care of those things for her, she jolted off the couch and ran toward the stairs.

“Regina?! Regina!”

A moment later, her son appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Henry,” Emma sighed his name with a little disappointment. “Did you put the blanket on me?”

“Yeah. I came over really late last night. I asked Gramps to drop me off. Neal was up almost every hour and I couldn’t sleep.”

“He just dropped you off here even though Regina wasn’t here?”

“He knew _you_ were here.”

Emma furrowed her brow and before she could ask how her dad knew she was there, Henry supplied her with an answer.

“You weren’t back yet and he knew you were still trying to talk to Mom so he drove by to make sure nothing had happened and he saw your car out front and some of the lights on inside. He’s been worried about you. Grandma, too.”

“Yeah. They’re more worried about me than they are Regina and _she’s_ the one that’s so close to all of this,” Emma said more to herself and then changed the subject when she looked up and saw Henry’s sad and concerned expression. “How’d you get in? I locked the door behind me.”

“I always have my keys on me. Mom never lets me leave the house without them, even when I’m not staying with her.”

Emma nodded, but continued to frown.

“She has to come home sometime, right,” Henry asked. “Even if she has to do whatever it is she’s doing?”

Emma looked so sadly empathetic before she answered, “I don’t know, Henry. I hope so.”

They both stood still for a tense moment before Emma spoke again and motioned for Henry to come downstairs.

“Come on. Let’s make some breakfast.”

Henry joined her at the bottom of the stairs and she draped an arm over his shoulders as they walked toward the kitchen.

They went through a list of options and agreed on pancakes after a few minutes. She let Henry help her make the batter and especially let him help her find everything they needed. It didn’t take long before they made a mess and neither tried to clean it up right away. They left the mess behind while they took their pancakes to the dining room table.

“So,” Henry started to talk once both of them were settled at the table. “What _is_ Mom doing?”

“What did she tell you?”

“Just that she was going to have to do things she didn’t want to do and that she was the only one who could do it.”

“Well, she chose to go undercover with the villains.”

“What?”

“She’s trying to fit in with her old friends so she can get inside information.”

“That’s crazy! She’s pretending to be evil again?”

“Just for a little while.”

Why? She- She’s not evil anymore. She promised to be good.”

“Henry, she’s still on our side.”

“But the longer she stays with them, even if she’s just pretending, the easier it might be for her to not have to _pretend_ anymore. Aren’t you worried about that?”

“Of course I am,” Emma firmly stated. “Why do you think I’m here? I’m not leaving her side, Henry. She tried to get rid of me the other night, but I’m still here, aren’t I? I’m not giving up.”

“Good, because I’m not either.”

“The one thing about all of this I _know_ Regina and I can agree on is that you’re not going to get involved.”

“Too late.”

Emma groaned.

“You’re stubborn. Just like her.”

“Yeah, but she’s not the only one I get that from,” Henry explained with a raised brow that made him look more like Regina than Emma.

“I guess that’s accurate,” Emma flashed a quick and faint smile.

“As soon as she gets back, I’m gonna ask her to leave her friends.”

“She won’t do it,” Emma said with a hint of resignation.

“Maybe if _I_ ask her to.”

“Who do you think she’s protecting by doing all of this? She’s not going to stop until she’s sure she can keep you safe another way.”

Henry heavily sighed out of frustration.

“Why does it always have to be about me? She gets herself into all kinds of danger for me and it isn’t fair. Why does she _always_ do this stuff for me?”

Emma smiled at him and moved over a chair to sit next to him. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into her side.

“Because she loves you. And so do I. Believe me, if I could switch places with her I would.”

“But…why?”

“Because she keeps putting herself in these situations and everyone keeps letting her. None of them seem to understand that the more chances, the more _risks_ , she takes the more likely something’s going to go horribly wrong. Someone’s got to be there to help out and I’m willing to do that. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“You don’t even know where she is right now.”

“I’ll figure it out. She can’t get rid of me that easily.”

* * *

Later, not too long after breakfast was had and the dishes were partially washed, Emma went back out in search for Regina. The woman had to turn up somewhere. It wasn’t like any of the villains she was working with had left town. What they wanted was supposed to be  _in_ town. When she dropped Henry off at the apartment, however, her parents insisted on coming with her.

“I’m not the one that needs protecting,” Emma argued. Again.

But her parents refused to let her go alone so they left Henry at Granny’s under the older woman and her granddaughter’s watchful eyes. Plus, everyone in town that could look after him that were in the diner would help protect them if needed so he was as safe as he could be if he wasn’t at one of his mothers’ sides.

Henry made sure to give Emma a big hug and a not-too-gentle squeeze before the Charmings left the diner and started to make their way around the town in a giant circle before they tried to weave through a few streets and trailways from one point in the surrounding woods to another. When Emma suggested they split up to cover more ground faster, her parents only continued to follow close behind her. She was frustrated and while she slept fine on Regina’s couch, she was tired. She didn’t want to keep searching for Regina. She wanted to find her already. If something happened to the brunette while she took her sweet time tracking her down, she would set fire to the whole damn town. She had to bring Regina home. For Henry and for the fact that the other woman deserved someone looking out of her.

She didn’t know a whole hell of a lot about Regina’s past, but she knew it wasn’t great. She knew part of the reason they understood each other was because Regina never really had anyone stick by her just like Emma hadn’t had anyone to do the same. It was how Regina was able to become the Evil Queen so quickly and easily. It was how she had been willing to give up and accept defeat and while Tinker Bell might have come to her aid, she wasn’t ready for anything more than anger and vengeance at that moment in time. Well, Regina was stronger than that with Henry in her life and Emma was going to keep it that way. But why did Regina have to make it so damn hard?

Not to mention, Regina had abducted a child and convinced Emma it was okay before she ditched her. So she also had a kid to worry about, too.

“Looks like the tracks stop here,” David said as he bent down to take a look at the partially muddy ground, void of any more indentations that would lead them to the villains’ hideout. “Maybe if Emma tries a locator spell like the one Regina used in Neverland to find Pan.”

Suddenly, Emma felt a shift in the wind and it wasn’t some weird sensory thing either. Tree branches blew a little harder in the breeze that hadn’t previous existed and tendrils of blonde hair whipped around and curled in front of her face, which not only irritated Emma but also blocked a bit of her vision at times.

“I don’t think we’ll need one,” Emma said as she, and soon the rest of the group, looked around the surrounding area for any indication or hint as to what was happening.

After a moment, she could sense the familiarity of the magic and who it belonged to just before she heard the woman’s voice.

“Regina,” Emma uttered her name with obvious relief.

A second later, the blonde was startled by a voice more familiar to her than the magic that moved around her.

“I have to make this quick,” Regina’s voice echoed around Emma. “Pinocchio’s fine. Back to his old self—or, _older_ self.”

“August,” Emma breathed out, shocked.

“There’s more. …Gold is here.”

Emma’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little more.

“We’re holed up in his cabin and he has a plan, but he won’t share it with me. I can only assume that means whatever he’s trying to do isn’t at all good for us.”

“Wait, Regina,” Emma called out to the mid-morning air, not sure where to look for Regina’s disembodied voice. “Are _you_ okay? Do they suspect anything?”

“If they do, they aren’t doing anything about it. They might need me for something, but otherwise I think they trust me enough not to kill me.”

“Then why haven’t you come home?”

“Emma, I really don’t have time to explain everything. I’ll see all of you as soon as I can get away.”

Emma felt Regina’s magic start to pull away, but she wasn’t finished.

“Regina!”

The brunette responded with an annoyed, “What?”

“Just…be careful, okay?”

There was a pause before Regina answered, “I’ll do my best.”

Emma felt the loss of Regina’s magic and though she wasn’t sure where Gold’s cabin was, she at least knew that was where Regina was.

“We have to get her,” Emma insisted with a determined look on her face. “And August.”

“You just heard her, Emma,” David said. “She’s fine. No one’s on to her.”

“As far as she knows. I have a bad feeling about this. Now either you’re with me or you can go watch Henry.”

Emma stormed off, back toward town, and didn’t care if her parents joined her or not as she made her way toward the pawn shop. There was only one person in town that could point Emma in the direction of Gold’s cabin and she was also the only person that could hand over his dagger in case the imp tried to take it back.

* * *

August was asleep, still tied to a chair in the main room of the cabin. Changing from a boy to a man to a large, wooden puppet to a man again with a nose that grew like a tree branch every time he lied must have drained a lot of energy from him. Cruella didn’t mind. In fact, she welcomed his unconsciousness. She was alone in the cabin while Rumple and Regina were with Maleficent on a search for the door that might lead them to the Author and Ursula was off somewhere after she went to stretch out her tentacles over forty minutes ago.

The quiet was peaceful. She didn’t prefer to be alone, but Cruella also wanted some room to breathe in the cramped space she had to share for most of the day with four other villains.

If she had been able to go to her room at the bed and breakfast, she would have left in a heartbeat. But she’d been stuck with guard duty with Ursula and that was all the breathing room she really needed. Of course, with Ursula away from the cabin and August asleep she was bored. There was nothing and no one to keep her entertained.

She rolled her neck and shoulders and groaned when she struggled to rid herself of the tension she’d built up over the last few days. Sex with Ursula gave her some relief, but some of the things they did tended to be the cause of her tension.

She uncrossed her legs and slowly stood up before she started to pace the room, not at all content to sit still for too long. Back and forth, back and forth. She rubbed the back of her neck while she moved through the room. She took a deep breath and released it in a long, heavy sigh.

Just as she turned around and started to walk back in the other direction, the door opened and Ursula entered the cabin.

“Darling, you’re back,” Cruella perked up at the company.

Ursula smirked and closed the door.

“Miss me?”

“Maybe a little,” Cruella confessed with a roll of her eyes in an attempt to look dismissive. “Our friend here isn’t much of one for conversation.”

Ursula glanced over at August for a moment before she refocused on Cruella. She shed her coat and hung it up on the rack before she went over to and wrapped her arms around the other woman. She rested her hands against Cruella’s lower back while she clasped one wrist in her other hand.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll be much better at it. I don’t really feel like talking right now.”

“That’s okay, darling. I’m sure we can find something else to do that will pass the time.”

Ursula chuckled and Cruella leaned in and kissed her neck.

“Or we could just sit and enjoy the lovely day outside,” Ursula suggested.

“Yes,” Cruella unenthusiastically drawled. “I suppose we could.”

Ursula laughed again and then turned them toward the window that overlooked the porch and surrounding pond. She pulled out a chair for Cruella at the table placed in front of the window before she took her own seat across from the other woman.

“How chivalrous of you,” Cruella purred in response as she watched Ursula sit down.

Ursula unlatched the window and pushed it open a bit to allow the fresh, early evening air to pass through the stuffy cabin. They sat in companionable silence and stared at the calm pond water and the green leaves and weeds that floated over it. It was the first time since the two of them had teamed up after years of separation in the Land without Magic that they enjoyed each other’s company without the need for sex.

For a while they remained quiet and contemplative as they shared the same space. A few birds chirped in the trees and there was a subtle breeze that circulated the cool, dewy air but didn’t make a sound and all was peaceful. Both women were content.

After a few minutes, Ursula brushed her leg against Cruella’s calf. She slowly ran her foot up and down the lower half of the other woman’s leg and both continued to bask in the view of the pond, and occasionally each other, with words left unspoken. It was a rare occurrence and the quiet moment they shared made everything else matter less, gave them a sense of the true meaning of the word happy, and allowed them to grow closer.

Ursula closed her eyes and melted into her chair as she continued to stroke Cruella’s leg with her foot under the table. Cruella played along as well and even went as far as to trail her foot up and down over the outer curve of Ursula’s knee.

“I’d say this table is in our way. Wouldn’t you agree, darling,” Cruella asked with a decadent cadence to her voice.

Ursula pulled her foot away from Cruella’s leg and pushed her chair away from the table. She remained seated and stared across the table at the other woman for a moment before she patted her lap.

“I _would_ agree,” Ursula answered.

Cruella grinned and stood up. She walked around the small table and settled herself in Ursula’s lap with one side pressed against Ursula’s front, her legs pressed together and draped over Ursula’s thighs. It was more for comfort than it was pleasure and she made herself comfortable in Ursula’s arms as the darker woman wrapped her arms around Cruella’s waist.

Wrapped up in each other they didn’t think too much about how sweet and uncharacteristic of villains they were in that moment. They were supposed to want revenge and other people’s pain was the only thing that seemed to bring them any happiness. They’d been robbed of their innocence and their happy endings and the world they once lived in compared to the world they currently lived in weren’t all that different. They knew only suffering and how to make those more fortunate pay the price for how badly they hurt. They didn’t do romantic gestures and their cold hearts rarely felt the kind of love they used to be capable of before someone ruined their lives and made it impossible for them to feel anything other than betrayal and sorrow.

And yet, there they were. Two women curled up on a shared seat by the window as if they didn’t have a captive tied to a chair and gaged only a few feet away, as if they weren’t in Storybrooke to find the Author and force him to make sure only villains had happy endings, as if they didn’t have a complicated past or people who would surely question their affection in their relation to being able to move forward with the plan. None of that mattered, however. In that moment, they weren’t villains. They were only women. They gave each other comfort and a sense of belonging even though both had constantly struggled to feel like they fit anywhere. The only place they knew they fit for sure was with each other. And that was enough. That _could_ have been enough.

But neither expressed any of that out loud. Instead they just sat and reveled in the moment, in having each other and having time away from everything else.

“Hmm,” Cruella hummed and leaned into Ursula. She pressed her forehead to Ursula’s honey blonde hair and closed her eyes. “I missed this. So simple.”

“And yet so complicated,” Ursula lightly chuckled and started to run a hand up and down one of Cruella’s thighs.

“Oh, darling, I don’t know any other way to have what we have,” Cruella smiled. “And anything else is just boring.”

Cruella leaned down and chastely kissed Ursula, but when Ursula hummed into the kiss she bit the woman’s bottom lip and pulled on it.

Ursula’s hum turned into a soft moan and when they broke away from the kiss, both women brightly smiled at each other.

“Why don’t I make us a drink,” Cruella suggested. “Maybe a little something to eat while we sit here, too.”

Ursula nodded and Cruella slid off her lap before she strutted her way into the small kitchen area against the back wall of the cabin.

“Do you want something alcoholic or should I make you some tea?”

“Tea would nice for this weather,” Ursula smiled over her shoulder at Cruella.

Cruella smiled back and replied, “Tea it is.”

She grabbed the kettle from the cabinet just beside the oven and turned on the stovetop where she intended to place it. She slid over to the sink not too far from the stove and filled the kettle before she placed it on the stovetop. The kettle slowly started to heat up and while Cruella waited for the water to boil, she admired Ursula from a short distance.

She leaned back against the edge of counter, her lower back pressed against it, and stared at Ursula from head to toe even as she only saw the other woman from the back. She remembered snuggling up to the other woman when they first found each other in New York after they’d been banished to the Land without Magic. She remembered just before they’d been welcomed into Storybrooke how Ursula had chosen to use the words, “We’re back together” when she explained their situation to Regina over the phone and how that had later led to them in bed together at Granny’s B&B. She remembered Ursula holding her in her lap at a table, like she just had in the cabin, years ago while she rode the darker woman’s hand.

They had a history, so much history, and Cruella wondered if Ursula agreed that maybe they’d always belonged together considering just how many times they’d been paired up even after so much time. It seemed that no matter what happened to them they couldn’t escape each other. They always found a way back to each other whether or not they even looked for one. If Ursula believed that, believed they’d always belonged together, it made sense that she would ask Cruella to be a part of her happy ending once the four of them made the Author give them the stories they wanted.

The kettle softly grumbled and Ursula shifted in her chair for a moment as she reached over and flicked on the portable radio. She turned the dial and tried to tune it to anything that wasn’t static. It took a moment, but eventually she found a station she seemed content with and settled into her seat again as she listened to soft and slightly crackled sounds of opera.

Cruella remembered earlier that week when she’d found Ursula out on the deck with the radio. The woman had been listening to similar music stylings of a woman singing out high notes at a slow, kind of sad rhythm. She hadn’t done much of that when they first came to the Land without Magic. Cruella noticed that she’d only recently started to do as much. The closer they seemed to get to their happy endings, the more she listened to the one thing she wanted most. The one thing that, for years, tormented her to be without.

Cruella walked back over to the table and combed her fingers through Ursula’s hair from behind from the roots to the tips. She watched as well as felt Ursula deeply inhale and relax. She leaned in from Ursula’s side and kissed her temple and then her lips. It wasn’t the same as Ursula having her voice back, but Cruella was always happy to give the other woman something to both take her mind off things and also provide her some comfort.

Cruella pulled Ursula out of her chair with her hand on the back of the other woman’s neck as they kissed. She turned them around so Ursula’s back was to the table and then urged Ursula to sit on the edge of it when she pushed the woman down by her shoulders. She kissed her over and over, less chaste and more passionate the longer the song on the radio played. She peeled Ursula’s dark green leather shirt, which was perfect for allowing Cruella an amazing yet teasing view of Ursula’s breasts but was much too tight for easy removal. Thankfully, she figured out the trick and Cruella slid her hands up the fanned out bottom of the shirt and pulled it up to Ursula’s chest before she gave it a yank. The extra force tugged the shirt up over the woman’s breasts and revealed a black bra to match the leather skirt Cruella didn’t bother to strip off of her.

“Cru—”

She cut Ursula off before the other woman could say her full name and lunged forward for a searing kiss that could easily compete with Maleficent’s fiery breath and Regina’s fireballs. She pushed the darker woman’s skirt up to her hips and along the way, Cruella nudged herself further between the woman’s legs. When she hiked the lengthy skirt up to just where she wanted it, she gently pressed Ursula’s legs against her waist before she reached behind the woman and unclasped her bra. She pulled it away from Ursula’s chest and exposed bountiful breasts that always made her lick her lips with want. That time was no different.

She slowly ran her hand up one of Ursula’s inner thighs while she kissed her lips again and then started to kiss her way from the darker woman’s neck to her sternum to her breasts. Just as she licked a hardening nipple, an action which caused Ursula to moan in response, she curled her fingers into the waistband of Ursula’s panties and pulled them down her legs.

“Darling, if you aren’t too attached to these I’d like to rip them off. Do I have your permission?”

“Go ahead,” Ursula breathily purred. “I’ve got plenty more.”

Cruella grabbed at the lacy material with both hands and tore it apart so that it just fell to the floor when she let go. She ran her hand back up the other woman’s thigh again and gave it a little squeeze when she was close to the woman’s sex.

She kissed and sucked a nipple into her mouth and felt Ursula arch into her. She hummed against the other woman’s skin and flicked the tip of her tongue over her nipple before she then moved to give Ursula’s other breast some attention. She stopped between Ursula’s breasts and kissed just between the anchor charm on one necklace and the chain with both a seahorse and shell charm on the other necklace that she wore. The anchor rested almost directly between her breasts and the seahorse and shell charm attached to another silver chain that hung beneath the starfish on the layered necklace above the anchor.

 Ursula moaned and wrapped her arms around Cruella’s neck. She sunk her nails into Cruella’s back between her shoulder blades and left behind faint red marks, but didn’t break skin.

Cruella placed her hand on the table just behind where Ursula was perched on the edge of it and finally slipped her fingers through slick folds and grazed the other woman’s clit on her ascent.

Ursula clenched her legs around Cruella’s waist and lightly gasped when the other woman made contact with her sensitive bundle of nerves.

Cruella leveraged herself on the hand she had on the table behind Ursula and kissed the other woman before she entered her with two fingers.

Ursula groaned and broke the kiss only a second later.

“What is it,” Cruella asked.

“Your nails.”

“I filed them down a bit.”

“I noticed.”

“Was that a good groan then?”

“Definitely,” Ursula said before she quickly pulled Cruella back in for another kiss.

Cruella almost never cut her nails. She liked them long and red and used them to claw at Ursula when Ursula did all the right things for her in the bedroom. Most of the time, Cruella only reciprocated for their sexual expliots with her tongue, but when she cut her nails it became obvious just why she had. She did it for Ursula and only for Ursula.

Cruella moaned into the kiss and started a slow, tender pace with her fingers.

Ursula squeezed her legs around Cruella’s waist and nipped Cruella’s tongue and bottom lip. She sighed and moaned between kisses and held on tightly to the other woman. She broke away from the kiss after a moment and tipped her head back.

Cruella started to kiss, suck, and bite her neck while she sped up her pace. She reduced Ursula to sighs and moans and occasional whimpers and they moved together like the rhythmic rise and fall of the opera music on the radio.

The kettle hissed and soon started to whistle, but neither of them paid it any attention as Ursula’s moans grew louder and louder. The shrill whistle and the sounds of pleasure Ursula emitted filled the cabin. Cruella focused only on Ursula and moaned in response to the way the other woman reacted to her. She bit her own bottom lip and moved a little faster before she slipped a third finger inside Ursula.

Ursula sighed against Cruella’s neck before she kissed it and Cruella started to rub her thumb in circles over Ursula’s clit. It caused the woman to twitch and whimper. She clutched Cruella’s arms tightly and tensed around her fingers before a cry tore out of her. In seconds, she relaxed and then let her legs fall from the woman’s waist.

The bottom of her boots hit the floor with a thud and Ursula panted out her next several breaths. She gripped the edge of the table while she tried to calm herself and her breathing after such a state of bliss. She opened partially bleary eyes and looked at Cruella while she started to regain focus and come out of her orgasmic haze.

Cruella grinned at the effect she had, _still_ had, on Ursula.

“You look stunning right now, darling.”

“You do amazing work,” Ursula huskily complimented her.

Cruella failed to hide a blush, but it just barely tinted her cheeks a faint pink.

“That wasn’t even my best,” Cruella mentioned.

“I know,” Ursula suggestively purred and slowly, sensually leaned forward.

Ursula tucked a finger under Cruella’s chin and tilted her head slightly as the woman stood up and kissed her good and slow. When she ended the kiss, it still lingered and Cruella stared at the darker woman with awe.

Finally, the whistle of the kettle reached both women’s ears and Cruella cleared her throat before she turned and went to the little kitchen area to remove it from the heated section of the stove. As she did, Ursula pulled down her skirt and bent over to grab her panties before she effortlessly slipped them back on over her boots and under her leather skirt.

When Cruella turned away from the stove and in Ursula’s direction, she caught a glimpse of the woman with her skirt hiked up all over again as she slid lacy black fabric over her sex. Cruella licked her lips and did her best to fight off a sudden case of dry mouth right when Ursula pulled her skirt down for a second time and looked up to see the reaction her redressing caused.

Ursula smirked as she straightened up her back for a moment. She neglected her shirt and bra, which were still on the floor at her feet, and started to walk over to Cruella. She prowled closer like a predator stalking its prey and devoured the smaller woman with her eyes as she raked them over the woman.

Cruella felt a spike in her body temperature immediately, but she didn’t think they had time for another round no matter how badly she still craved the other woman.  Her eyes wandered from brown eyes to plump lips to beautiful breasts seemingly left exposed for her benefit.

“Darling, you are _wonderful_ , but I doubt Rumple will want to walk in on us.”

Ursula breathed out a little laugh and closed most of the distance between them. She ran her hands down Cruella’s arms with a teasingly light touch before she wrapped her arms around Cruella’s waist.

Cruella, unable to help herself, placed her hands on Ursula’s chest and felt the swell of the woman’s breasts beneath her palms. Her eyes drifted downward again and she watched herself graze the heels of her hands over Ursula’s nipples.

Ursula appreciatively hummed and the two of them met halfway for yet another kiss, lusty and long. She smiled at the end of the kiss and slowly pulled away.

Cruella saw Ursula’s happy and smug smile through hooded eyes and let out a small growl before she quickly gnashed her teeth and snapped at the air to fake taking a rough bite of Ursula’s bottom lip.  It was unrestrained and animalistic and she very rarely showed anyone that side of her, except for Ursula.

Cruella dropped her hands back to her sides and Ursula stepped back. Ursula went over to the table again and grabbed the rest of her discarded clothes off the floor and then slipped back into her bra and shirt.

Just as Cruella started to pour the boiled water over a tea bag in a mug for Ursula, the front door burst open. August started to wake up, slowly but surely, and Ursula was in the middle of fanning out the collar of her leather jacket when Cruella saw the blonde Savior in the doorway with wide, kind of surprised but mostly wild, eyes and a slack jaw.

Emma immediately spotted both Ursula and Cruella to her right. Cruella stared back at her, half-surprised and half-agitated by her intrusion. She blinked and her surprise was replaced by her typical unamused glare.

Emma looked at the two of them for only a moment before her eyes slid over to find August as he groaned and lifted his head. The formerly wooden man blinked several times and groggily looked up at the blonde.

"August," the Savior breathed out with relief before she rushed to his side and tried to untie him. All she managed to do was pull down the gag over his mouth before Cruella set down the tea kettle and stepped in alongside Ursula.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ursula threatened.

Cruella looked Emma over from head to toe, sized her up, before Emma growled out a reply.

"Where's Regina?"

Cruella cruelly chuckled.

"She's not the one strapped to that chair," Cruella pointed out. "Why does it matter where she is?"

"Whatever you plan on doing with her, I won't let it happen," Emma continued.

"What makes you think we want to _do_ anything with her," Ursula asked. "She offered to help us. We accepted that help. That's it. Unless there's something you two aren't telling us."

"I won't let you use her," Emma amended her previous statement.

Both Ursula and Cruella laughed.

"He's the one that's been tortured, while Regina _watched_ I might add, and you're concerned about _her_ well-being more than you care about getting him out of here," Ursula asked.

"Who says I can't be worried about both of them?"

Emma raised her arms up and back and was about to move them forward in a sweeping motion when Ursula beat her to a magical attack.

Two tentacles slid out from under Ursula's skirt and quickly wrapped themselves around the blonde's wrists. She held the woman's hands in place and prevented any further action on the younger woman's part.

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't even try it, Savior," Ursula admonished.

"What do you say we tie her up, too? Serve her to Maleficent like a tasty steak dinner," Cruella suggested and slowly crept closer to the woman while she raked her eyes over Emma's body again.

"It's tempting. And I'm sure Maleficent won't be the only one that wants to play with her," Ursula replied with a devilish smirk.

Cruella looked from Emma to Ursula and grinned. Ursula's face was the last thing she saw before everything went black.

* * *

Ursula's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she watched Cruella fall to floor. Snow White stood behind the place where Cruella once stood and held up a pan she used to knock the other woman out. Ursula's tentacles released Emma's wrists and retreated back under her skirt. She stared and stared at Snow while Emma thought to ask just how it was the pixie-haired woman arrived at the cabin.

"How did you get here so fast? I thought I left you back in the woods about a mile into the search."

"We called Ruby," Snow answered. "She gave us a few tracking tips when we lost the footprints. And you."

"And how did you get _in_?”

"When I was a bandit on the run from Regina I learned very quickly that the back door is usually open."

Ursula shook her head and snapped back to reality just as Charming followed his wife into the cabin from the back door she had just mentioned.

"If you think I'll just give you what you want, you're sadly mistaken."

"I can always hit you over the head, too," Snow supplied.

Ursula narrowed her eyes at Snow and glared at her. One of her tentacles reappeared and wrapped around the woman's neck in the blink of an eye.

"Mom," Emma called out and took a step toward the two women.

“Take another step and you’re mother will need gills to breathe," Ursula growled and tightened her tentacle’s hold on Snow’s neck.

Snow gasped at the crushing weight against her windpipe and Ursula grounded her teeth together as she tried to enjoy the terror in Emma and Snow’s eyes. She didn’t get to revel in her evildoings for a couple of reasons, however. The first and foremost being that the last person she wanted to see ever again barged into the cabin in an instant.

“Wait,” Hook shouted and held out his good hand in a gesture indicative of surrender.

“ _How_ are you still breathing,” Ursula angrily and loudly asked.

“I’m good at surviving, or…you’re bad at killing,” he flatly answered. “Either way, you can let him go.”

“I can’t let him leave with you,” Ursula replied. “Not when the Author is the only one who can give me what I want.”

“You don’t need the Author for that,” Hook explained. “You don’t need him either.”

Hook gestured to August and Ursula sighed, but didn’t release Snow White from her tentacle’s grip.

“I know why you couldn’t release your voice from that shell,” Hook continued. “Only the one who enchanted can do that.”

“…Wait,” Ursula felt tears build up in her eyes and shook her head. “You don’t mean—”

“Aye.”

Ursula looked from the pirate to the front door in which two out of the four heroes that stood before her had used to enter the cabin.

“Ursula,” her father sadly but a little reverently greeted her as he joined the list of people to walk into the cabin.

Immediately, Ursula threw Snow toward Charming before she let go of the woman’s neck. She stepped toward her father, everyone else momentarily forgotten as she focused on him. She never expected to see him again, even before she’d fallen through the portal to the Land without Magic, and yet he was right in front of her. His hair was a little grayer than she last remembered and he had a few more worry lines and wrinkles, but he otherwise looked no different from the day she told him he should fear her and then swam far from home.

“How are you here? In this land,” Ursula asked and furrowed her brow as she looked her father over.

“A young mermaid found me and brought me through a portal,” he replied. “I need to say something. I’m sorry, Ursula. I never should have forced you to use your voice as a weapon. It’s just…every time I heard you sing, I heard your mother. And it was too painful.”

Ursula stared at him and felt like the little girl, the little mermaid, she once was. She felt like his daughter again instead of the wicked Sea Witch she’d grown into and had been for years. She pulled the shell out of her jacket pocket and looked down at it as she moved it around and flipped it over a few times in her hand like it weighed more than it should.

“I let that pain fuel my desire for vengeance,” her father continued to explain. “But it shouldn’t have. It should have reminded me that I still have a piece of her. You.”

Ursula couldn’t believe it, but she really wanted to. She’d never heard him talk to her that way in such a long time. He was more like a father to her in that moment than he’d been in the time just before she left home with tentacles in place of a tail.

“Let me return your voice,” he gently suggested. “So I can hear it one last time.”

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out after a moment. Her shoulders fell under an invisible weight as she held out her hand, and the shell, to her father. He took it from her open palm and held it in his own hand with the upmost care.

He waved a hand over it and it glowed green a second before the glow expanded into a stream and her voice filled the cabin as it traveled from the shell to her mouth. It echoed as it made its way back to its rightful owner and as she felt her voice return, the tears that had built over the last few minutes finally rolled down her cheeks.

As soon as her voice was free from the shell, she sang a wordless melody and smiled. She closed her eyes and let the sound wash over her like waves she hadn’t felt since she was pulled into the Land without Magic and had no way of being able to get her tentacles wet. When she opened her eyes, she saw her father enjoying the sweet sound of her voice even more than she did with the exception that he wasn’t moved to tears quite like she was.

He smiled at her as she ended her wordless song and just stared at her for a moment before he spoke again.

“Now that you are whole again…I’ll leave you in peace.”

“Wait,” she breathily pleaded. She couldn’t let him leave. Not yet. She didn’t want their reunion to end. She just got him back. He’d apologized and gifted her with her singing voice after all the years she spent angry and miserable without it. “My voice is _all_ we have left of Mother. You took it from me once. I don’t want to do the same thing to you.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’ve missed you.”

She hesitated for a moment before she closed the gap between him and wrapped her father in hug.

“I missed you too,” he breathed into her hair. Ursula heard the smile and relief in his tone.

They continued to hug for a moment, unaware of the others that remained in the cabin with the two of them, before they both pulled away from the embrace. She looked at him again and realized that while she didn’t want him to leave her, she also couldn’t leave _with_ him.

Ursula looked down at Cruella where she laid on the floor, still unconscious from the frying pan to the back of the head. She shook her head and crouched down beside the woman before she reached out and ran a hand through Cruella’s hair.

“I can’t leave her,” Ursula confessed.

“Seriously,” Emma asked, and Ursula tried to burn a hold through the blonde’s face with a single look. “You think she’s going to stop working with the villains for you?”

“You call us villains, but the only people that have ever wronged me or let me down are so-called _heroes_.”

 Ursula shot a dirty look at the Charmings before she looked down at Cruella again with such tenderness and care.

“If you’re saying you want to stay here,” her father started to speak again.

Ursula looked up at him, but kept a hand on Cruella.

“I’ll stay, too. If that’s what you want. Just…promise me you won’t harm anyone while you continue to work with the others,” he finished.

Ursula puffed out a sigh and smiled up at him.

“I want you to stay,” she told him.

He nodded and smiled back.

She looked around the room and slight panic arose as she realized there were too many heroes in a hideout for villains.

“You should go,” Ursula said to Emma. She looked over at the Charmings and her partial niceness instantly vanished. “None of you should be here when they get back.”

The Charmings untied August and the three of them and Hook started to leave, but Emma and Poseidon lingered.

“Take your friend and run. When they find out you got away from me they aren’t going to be pleased. With _any_ of us.”

Emma nodded and only then did she head out with the others. Poseidon, however, stayed.

“Father, go. I’ll join you when I can, but you can’t stay here. Find a place in town, but leave the cabin and don’t come back.”

“Why…can’t you leave her?”

“She’s a…friend. I can’t abandon her. We’ve been through a lot together and I wouldn’t walk away from her. I’ve never left her before and I don’t intend to now.”

“You really care about her,” he noted. “You’ve always held a special place in your heart for humans.”

“She’s not like any other human,” Ursula defended the woman. “She’s different.”

“She’s important to you,” he reiterated his point.

Ursula gulped and reluctantly nodded in agreement with his statement.

He looked her over for a moment, assessed her like she was a child with a badly scraped knee and he needed to comfort her, and then glanced at Cruella.

“I think I understand,” Poseidon said, almost knowingly from what Ursula could tell. “Please, be careful.”

Ursula nodded and flashed him a watery smile before he finally made his exit. She looked down at Cruella one last time and stroked her thumb over the woman’s cheek before she came up with a cover story. She would need one if she expected to survive.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Once Day! Here's the chapter based off of 4x16. Although, the first couple of scenes are from 4x15 and didn't make it into the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think.

She groaned and blinked through blurry vision as she regained consciousness. Her head pounded and throbbed worse than any hangover she’d ever experienced, although there were a few morning-afters she recalled that came in close second, and the first thing she saw was Ursula. The other woman sat next to her and leaned over her with concern clear across her features. She looked a little unsteady even as she sat and Cruella noted the way she furrowed her brow with a grimace of pain as the darker woman assessed her.

“Darling? What happened?”

Cruella tried to sit up, but she barely lifted her shoulders off the floor before she hissed and touched a hand to the back of her head. The room started to spin and she felt nauseous. Ursula placed a hand high behind her shoulder blades, just below the base of her neck, and held her in place while Cruella tried not to see double of everything.

“Go slow,” Ursula gently instructed. “Those idiot Charmings knocked us out. They took off with the puppet.”

“How are you sitting up right now,” Cruella jealously asked and pouted for good measure.

Ursula chuckled at her expression.

“I was able to put up a little fight before the Savior used her cheap magic tricks on me. Snow hit you with a frying pan.”

“So I was brutalized with a kitchen item and you were just…put to sleep? That is unbelievably unfair.”

Ursula flashed her a smile and stroked a thumb over her cheek a few more times before she carefully tried to help Cruella stand.

“Maybe they like me more,” Ursula joked.

Cruella groaned low in her throat in response and caused the other woman to let out a small laugh. She ran a hand through her hair once she was on her feet and she took a look around the cabin, which wasn’t as destroyed as she thought it might have been given Ursula’s explanation about how she’d fought the heroes. Even if she lost, the cabin should have looked like a mess if she had bothered to whip her tentacles out at all.

“Those Charmings…they aren’t subtle, are they,” she rhetorically asked. “They just barge in whenever they feel like it and make all sorts of demands.”

Ursula nodded.

“And what do you make of the Savior asking about Regina?”

Ursula shrugged and said, “Maybe she wants them to be friends.”

“Maybe they bloody well _were_ friends. Clearly she cared more about Regina than she did that useless puppet.”

“Maybe,” Ursula agreed with at least that much.

“We should warn the others. They’ll need to know we lost our only link to the Author.”

“They should still be at the mansion looking for the door.”

“Right,” Cruella said while she brushed herself off a little.

A moment later, Cruella headed for the front door, but Ursula wasn’t close behind as usual. She looked over her shoulder and saw the other woman’s hesitation. The darker woman stared right at her with an expression of wonder and slightly sad, maybe longing, eyes.

“Darling?”

“Hmm?” Ursula only partially snapped out of her haze. “Sorry. I just…I was thinking.”

“About what?”

“Have you thought maybe happiness would be enough?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Instead of destroying everyone else’s chances at being happy, have you ever thought that as long as _we_ were happy it would be enough? Then we wouldn’t need revenge. We could just enjoy the things we want in life.”

Cruella frowned and gave Ursula a dissatisfied and confused look.

“And what about all of our suffering? You don’t think we deserve to even the score? What we’ve always wanted was once taken from us. Even if we get it back, the people that took it from us won’t ever see what they did was wrong. They’ll never pay for their crimes against us, never understand what it was like to be denied something as _simple_ as our own happiness, until we show them.”

Ursula gulped and nodded like she didn’t completely agree with what Cruella said, but at least seemed to understand the logic behind it.

“What’s gotten into you? You still want to find the Author, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Ursula quickly answered and walked toward Cruella. “But at what price do we want our happy endings?”

“Whatever it costs, but you know that. It’s why we’re all here.”

Ursula shook her head.

“I might have been desperate for my voice all this time, but recently I realized that even if I never got it back there would only be one thing I’d ever want from this life. And _that_ is why I’m here.”

“What is it you want if not your voice?”

“You.”

“Careful. You’re starting to sound like that dreadful Savior, darling.”

Ursula sighed and stopped briefly in front of Cruella.

“Maybe she has it right,” Ursula replied before the other woman walked past past out of the cabin.

Cruella’s frown deepened and so did her confusion. That certainly wasn’t the Ursula she remembered from the Enchanted Forest. It wasn’t even the Ursula she remembered from the first time they agreed to work together again, with Maleficent and Rumple as well, to get all of their happy endings. It wasn’t the Ursula she remembered from just moments before she was knocked out by that frying pan. Something was off with Ursula and Cruella wasn’t sure she wanted to know what exactly it was. She had a bad feeling that once she figured it out, she wasn’t going to like the discoveries she made.

* * *

They hadn’t found the door in the Author’s mansion. It was a huge disappointment to Maleficent and Rumple, which was both a good and bad thing for her. The villains couldn’t find the door or the Author. If they did, everything Regina had worked so hard to keep a lid on would blow up in her face. The longer it took for them to find anything, however, made them more impatient and look at her with suspicion like she personally was seeing to it that they didn’t find what they wanted. It was true, but if the other four she was working with found out that she wasn’t on their side at all she probably wouldn’t see Henry ever again.

Rumple, Maleficent, and Regina walked out of the mansion and started to make their way back to Cruella’s car, which they’d borrowed to get to the mansion faster, when they saw Cruella and Ursula rush toward them up the paved road.

“They’re gone,” Cruella panted and bent over at the waist as she struggled to catch her breath.

Cruella braced her hands on her knees and swallowed up the air like it was a meal. Ursula put a hand on her back and soothingly started to rub it. It wasn’t something Regina was used to seeing. She knew Ursula and Cruella had hooked up several times in the past, and it wasn’t like she herself hadn’t slept with someone in their group before because she definitely had, but such open displays of such sweet affection weren’t like them.

“Who’s gone,” Maleficent asked and took a step forward, toward the other two women.

It brought Regina back to the issue at hand and she buried her thoughts about what exactly Ursula and Cruella had been up to since reuniting in her town so that she could focus on the situation. She had to stay alert and watch her back, especially since Emma couldn’t do that for her anymore. Not that she’d ever depended on that before because she definitely hadn’t wanted Emma’s help while she associated herself with her old friends during their time of destruction-seeking.

“The puppet,” Ursula answered for Cruella while the gin-loving woman remained breathless. “The Savior came and grabbed him with Snow White and her prince’s help.”

“How did they manage to get past you,” Rumple asked.

“They attacked me from behind,” Cruella answered.

“I tried to stop them, but not all three of them were there when I started to fight back. They took us by surprise,” Ursula added.

Rumple grimaced, displeased by that information. Maleficent narrowed her eyes and redirected her glare at Regina.

“As troubling as it is that they managed to defeat you, I’m more interested to know _how_ they found us,” Maleficent said with sharp, blue eyes fixated on the brunette.

Regina tried to hide her panic and resolved her features into a look of incredulousness and anger.

“You think _I_ told them,” she asked Maleficent, her gaze directed solely at the blonde.

“You said it yourself,” Maleficent started to say. “You’ve had to play nice with all of them in order to get what you wanted. You’ve been around all of them for much longer than any of us. Who’s to say playing nice was all an act after all?”

Regina rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Please,” she said. “No matter how long I’ve been around them, how could you think I would betray any of you? I’ve been with all of _you_ this entire time. I haven’t left yours or Rumple’s side, per your request might I remind you.

“Besides, we’ve been staying at _his_ cabin,” Regina looked from Maleficent to Rumple. “Maybe _Belle_ mentioned it to one of them. Last time I checked I don’t have a wife that would spill all my secrets if it meant helping the good guys.”

“Are you sure about that,” Maleficent asked with a growl and an arched brow.

Regina didn’t really get that question, just furrowed her brow and wondered what Maleficent could possibly have meant by that. She hesitated for a moment while she thought about the potential implications and then shook her head before she brought something more prominently to everyone’s attention.

“Well, I’m not the one that let them get away with our only definitive link to the Author.”

Regina cut Cruella and Ursula an accusing glare and Rumple and Maleficent continued to stare distrustfully at her for another moment before they realized she had a point.

“We weren’t expecting them,” Ursula defensively repeated her earlier words in a snapped out response.

“We didn’t even think they knew where to find us,” Cruella added and stepped up to stand just slightly in front of Ursula, almost protectively so. “You still haven’t convinced me you didn’t have something to do with that.”

Regina rolled her eyes.

“Sure, point the finger at me when your _girlfriend_ here is the one that couldn’t even handle taking on the _Charmings_. For someone with eight tentacles and two hands you’re not very effective in combat, are you?”

“Watch your mouth,” Cruella growled and took another step in front of Ursula, ready to fight with Regina.

Regina bared her teeth and clenched her fists at her sides. She tensed up and prepared herself to expel any magic necessary to take down the woman that dared to challenge her. Regina never backed down from a challenge, especially if she was supposed to be more like the Evil Queen.

“Stop it,” Maleficent darkly hissed and inserted herself between the two of them. “It seems we all have a reason to question each other’s loyalty. Is that going to stop us from trying to reach the same goal? We all want our happy endings, don’t we?”

No one verbalized their answer and none of them even nodded in agreement, but the looks they all gave each other was enough confirmation for the blonde.

“Be suspicious, but don’t let this slow us down,” she continued. “If we do, _none_ of us will get what we want and all of this will have been for nothing.”

“She has a point,” Rumple agreed and came to stand beside her. “We need to continue to work together or we’ll all have wasted our time. Now, we may have lost our informant, but we still have his information.”

Rumple looked straight at Regina and everyone else followed his lead.

“Bring us the illustration of the door. Maybe there’s something in it the puppet missed.”

Regina nodded. She had no choice but to concede and to do it quickly. If she hesitated for even a split second, they’d assume she was the least trustworthy out of everyone and she had a feeling—being the newest member of the group—that she was already the one they expected to cross them before anyone else even thought to do so.

She looked only at Rumple just after she nodded her consent to do as he asked before she surrounded herself with her signature purple smoke. She reappeared just outside of the Charming’s apartment, careful not to just poof right in like she’d done once before when she came for Snow’s heart. She took a deep breath before she even thought to enter and then opened the door and peaked her head inside. She looked to the living room first with slightly widened eyes and she saw Henry looking through the book as he sat by August’s side. August was asleep on the couch and didn’t look too abused considering the torture she watched him withstand.

She glanced into the kitchen and noticed Emma at the sink near a kettle in the middle of preparing some kind of warm drink. Her eyes were already focused on Regina due to the obnoxious squeak of the beat up, old apartment door that had sounded the second Regina tried to enter. Regina looked at August again and relaxed her shoulders as she opened the door further and stepped inside without any invitation.

She kept her eyes on August and Henry and sighed with relief as she shut the door behind herself.

“We’re lucky he’s okay,” she said and started to make her way to the kitchen.

“It wasn’t luck,” Emma insisted. “You got us that message. Thank you.”

Regina was about to say something in response, but Emma knit her brows and stopped what she was doing for a second just before she looked up at the brunette again.

“How _did_ you get us that message? That wasn’t telepathy or something, was I? I wasn’t the only one that heard you. Can you do that? Talk to several people in their minds at the same time?”

Regina shook her head and while a part of her wanted to laugh at Emma’s wonder and amusing curiosity about magic, she was a little too tired to be entertained.

“It’s a trick Maleficent taught me after I helped her remember who she was. When she and I first met, she didn’t appear when I called for her. Her voice…echoed off the walls and she asked me to prove I was worth something by magically making a fire.”

Emma frowned.

“Why would she want you to prove yourself that way?”

“I was asking her to teach me magic”

“But…I thought _Rumple_ taught you.”

“He did. There was a time when I was fed up with how slowly he was helping me make any progress. I wanted to learn much faster than he was letting me and I’d read so much about Maleficent that I threatened to go to her for training.”

Regina watched Emma’s expression slide from curiosity and slight confusion into something Regina wasn’t quite sure how to describe. Emma suddenly looked a little upset, maybe even bitter? All Regina knew for certain was that Emma wasn’t all that happy to hear what had just been shared with her.

Regina heavily sighed and leaned onto her forearms against the top of the bar-style part of the counter. After a few seconds, Emma turned her attention to the dishes in front of her. The younger woman started to clean off the spoon she’d just used to stir the drink in the tall mug next to the kettle in front of her.

“I need your help with something,” Regina blurted out and very abruptly changed the subject.

“What is it?” Emma set the spoon in the drying rack next to the sink and gave all of her attention to her.

“I had a dream today. Robin Hood came back, we were finally together, but then I...well, the Evil Queen, showed up. With a…fire ball in her hand.”

As she told Emma something so personal, she realized how strange it sounded out loud. She was also more confused about the dream as she explained it to the blonde than when she first woke up.

Emma looked down for a second and seemed careful about how she approached the subject before she said, “I may not be Archie, but it sounds like you’re afraid of the villain you used to be and the one you might become again.”

“Or maybe _you’re_ projecting,” Regina replied.

Emma put up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Hey, you asked for my help.”

Regina calmed down a little and responded with, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Emma flashed her a small smile and it seemed to encourage Regina to continue opening up. How Emma suddenly had a way of doing that, Regina wondered if she’d ever know.

“In the dream, I don’t think the Evil Queen was there to _hurt_ Robin.”

Regina thought through that dream again and tried to find new meaning while she stood there and tried to explain it to Emma. She remembered walking through the woods feeling sad and lonely and a little lost, but then she heard Robin and as confused as she was she felt her stomach flip with anticipation that he might have found a way back to her. She remembered seeing him appear from around the corner and relief and the closest she’d ever felt to happy flooded her body.

She remembered a kiss that wasn’t all that satisfying or inspiring. There wasn’t much of a spark, but she’d had Robin back and that was supposed to be what she wanted. Right? To have her soulmate back? The pixie dust guaranteed missing piece of her happy ending?

Then she remembered her former self, dressed in a long and dark dress with her hair pinned up and her makeup heavier than she’d preferred it in over thirty years, a fire ball that was immediately formed in the palm of her hand, and the seemingly notable intent to harm. There was an angry protest from the Evil Queen’s lips. _“Stay away from him,”_ she’d told herself and in the blink of an eye the fireball burned a path in their direction only seconds before she woke up with a startled gasp.

“I think she was there to protect him,” Regina continued her earlier thought process and shared it with Emma.

Although, after Regina had said that out loud as well, it felt all wrong. Like unwittingly drinking spoiled milk or the bitter aftertaste that came with cranberry juice. She recalled the look on the Evil Queen’s face in her dream, how her murderous intent was set almost directly on Robin and not herself. The warning was for her, but the fireball might have been meant for him. She just happened to be in the way and felt the lick of the flames alongside Robin the moment before she sprang back into consciousness.

Maybe Emma was right. Maybe the blonde wasn’t just projecting but also had a point that she herself was just as afraid as Emma was that she would revert. After all the progress she’d made and yet she still thought kidnapping August—when he was still just a young-again Pinocchio—without even considering Emma’s plan to sneak him out the back, should have been proof enough that she was thinking less like a hero and more like a woman out to save her own skin.

When Regina looked at Emma, she noted the blonde looked very skeptical of her theory about protecting Robin as well.

“What would you even need to protect him from,” Emma asked.

“I don’t know,” she honestly admitted and tried to hide the doubt from her voice. “I just…felt it.”

That part wasn’t a lie. She had felt the need to protect someone. She just wasn’t sure who the Evil Queen was trying to protect, even if her gut told her it was obvious it was herself.

Regina looked Emma over a few times and considered her next words carefully before she even thought to ask for more of Emma’s help.

“You used to track people for a living.”

Emma’s attention was all hers again.

“Can-can you get me a phone number, a-a way to contact him? Anything,” Regina gently pleaded with her.

Emma frowned and beautiful green eyes looked a little sad in Regina’s opinion. It was strange and Regina not only questioned her theories about her dream, but she also had to question just what it was Emma felt. The younger woman wasn’t an easy person to read at times and Regina didn’t like not knowing just what was going through her mind.

“Yeah,” Emma answered. “Yeah, I can do that.”

Emma seemed eager to help, but she also looked unsure as to what she’d just agreed to do for her.

Regina tried to ignore Emma’s conflicting feelings as they passed over her face and instead chose to smile at the woman who continued to do everything she could to help her. And the more Regina thought about it, the easier it was for her to smile at the blonde. If Emma was busy trying to find a way for her to get in touch with Robin she’d probably be preoccupied just enough to pull back from her while she continued to work with Maleficent and the others. It would keep the younger woman safe and away from the town’s only threat. She was going to stick by her promise to Snow to keep Emma out of the loop about…well, about everything. She knew lying to Emma when the blonde seemed to trust her most given their budding friendship wasn’t the greatest idea, but Regina also thought it was the only way to protect the other woman. Emma was stubborn and she was naïve when it came to facing new villains she’d only ever known from the Disney movies.  

Regina might have been cruel once upon a time, but it was her responsibility to keep Emma alive and otherwise unharmed. For Henry’s sake, of course. And maybe because Emma cared enough about her that Regina just had to care an equal amount for her, too. They were supposed to be friends, after all.

“Mom!”

Both women turned, unsure but also uncaring as to whom Henry had been referring to, and saw August staring at them from across the apartment. He was awake.

Henry set aside the storybook and focused all his attention on August, who looked up at Henry and gave him plenty of attention for a long moment as well.

Regina hurried over toward Henry while Emma made August her priority. The other woman carried her drink into the living room and set it down on the coffee table as she knelt down in front of the couch.

 As Regina came to stand behind Henry, August looked up at her for a while before he settled his eyes on Emma who apparently couldn’t keep her hands off him. Didn’t she already have a dirty, incompetent boyfriend?

“What’s she doing here,” August asked Emma.

Regina froze on the spot, completely tense as she brushed her hands over her coat and looked to Emma for assistance.

Emma momentarily locked eyes with her before she turned back to August and gave him an answer.

“Oh, it’s okay. I promise.”

Slowly, she crouched down between Henry and Emma and leaned toward the man on the Charming’s couch.

“August… We need to talk about how to keep up my cover with Gold.”

August looked from her back to Emma with an expression that, in Regina’s opinion, said, “Is she serious?”

“The only way I was able to come here,” Regina started to explain as she turned and grabbed the page they’d ripped out of the storybook, “is because they think I’m stealing this page. We didn’t find the door at the sorcerer’s mansion.”

“That’s because it’s not there,” he tiredly replied through what looked to be a brief moment of pain as he moved ever so slightly to address and acknowledge all three of them.

“What,” Henry asked what they all thought.

August smiled at him and then at Emma as she looked at the former puppet, thoroughly confused.

“But…” Regina started to say, “You said you didn’t know where it was. And your nose didn’t grow.”

“My nose didn’t grow because I wasn’t lying. When Gold… _asked_ me where the door was I didn’t know the answer because I didn’t know where Henry was keeping this page.”

Regina thought about that for a moment. It didn’t make sense. If August wasn’t lying because he didn’t know where the page was, what did that even mean? Was the page—?

“Regina,” August rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow before he then pointed to the page in question. “This isn’t just an illustration… This _is_ the door. The Author…is inside the book.”

Well, that was helpful. And completely odd. What kind of Author got trapped inside the book he was writing? There were a few fiction novels in the Land without Magic that told stories about the worlds within books being real and people getting sucked into them as they immersed themselves in the book and the tales it told, but she’d never heard of such a thing from her own world.

Emma took the page from her and stared at it, studied it. She stood up and started to walk toward the center of the apartment, her eyes glued to the door drawn in the middle of the yellowed page.

Henry remained by August’s side while Regina followed Emma. She wasn’t exactly finished looking at the page herself before Emma snatched it right out of her hand only seconds after their most recent revelation.

Regina took the page back into her possession and turned it around so the door faced her instead of the blonde thief that hissed as she tried to avoid a paper cut during the second exchange.

“How the hell is the Author trapped inside the book,” Regina asked, frustrated and completely done with the twists and turns it took to get what she wanted.

“Don’t ask me,” Emma replied. “You’re the magic expert.”

“Mom.”

“W- This is insane! What are we supposed to do, draw a key?”

“All we need to do is figure it out before Gold does,” Emma said.

“Mom!”

She and Emma immediately turned to Henry with concern.

“What is it,” Regina was the first to ask.

“There’s something wrong with August,” he quietly said, and both women walked back over to the couch.

“August? August,” Emma breathily said and gently tried to shake him awake.

She looked from the unconscious man to Emma, even more concerned than she had been a minute ago. She was sure Marco probably wouldn’t want to talk to her any time soon after she’d kidnapped his son less than twenty-four hours after apologizing to him for yelling at the little boy, but the least she could do was return him safely and in one piece.

Emma returned her look of concern, but she was able to remain much calmer under the circumstances.

“We need to get him help,” the younger woman said and looked at August again.

Regina was definitely in agreement, even though it also meant she risked taking too long to get back to the cabin.

* * *

The convent was quiet despite the fact that all of the fairies still lived there, except Tinker Bell who hadn’t called that place her home during the first curse. Mother Superior—Blue—and two other fairies were the only ones at the convent, but the Blue Fairy was all they needed.

Regina had poofed them all there, August, Emma, and Henry, after she made sure the former puppet turned real boy slash man had a safe place to land at the new location she knew to take them to. Emma, disoriented from the magic travel as she was, didn’t at all hesitate to call out for the Head Fairy in Charge and within seconds, Blue stood in front of them. The auburn haired woman was shocked at the sight before her, but she didn’t waste any time at all before she helped the three of them get August into the nearest bed. From there, she looked him over and saw to any of his possible injuries.

“He’s been through a lot,” Blue informed them.

Regina rolled her eyes. She thought it had been obvious August had gone through a lot, even if she’d been the only one in the room besides him to know the things he’d endured.

She pulled out her phone and checked the display for the time to know how long she’d been gone already while she listened to Emma and Blue discuss what was wrong.

“What’s happening,” the blonde asked from her place knelt over August as he rested under the covers near a large window at the front of the house. “He was awake and then he passed out and…”

“Well, he’s been changed by magic many times,” Blue explained. “For him to survive this he’ll have to be very strong.”

Regina looked up from her phone and leaned across Henry before she told Emma, “We have a bigger problem.”

Emma looked over her shoulder and looked both angry and exhausted. Regina realized that whatever August had been to her in the past, as an adult he’d at the very least been her friend. Choosing to belittle how dire Blue made his situation sound might not have been the best way to approach her latest issue and for a moment, she winced at her words and looked apologetically down at Emma where she remained on the floor with her hands pressed lightly to August’s chest.

Emma slowly turned away from her and looked at August for several seconds before she sighed and pushed herself onto her feet.

“Call me if anything changes,” Emma requested from Blue.

“Of course,” Blue replied with a slight nod.

Regina took the hint that they were done at the convent. They’d done all they could for August and it was time to move on until they knew more about how to help or if they even could. She led the way out of the room and Emma and Henry followed close behind before they all stepped out into the hallway as a group, Emma and herself shoulder to shoulder while Henry walked just a little bit behind them.

“Gold and these other witches are expecting me. They sent me on a mission to get that page from the book and if I return empty handed, whatever suspicions they have of me will be confirmed.”

Emma stopped in the middle of the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest and turned to her. Regina and Henry stopped where they stood as well.

“Then give them this,” Emma said before she unfolded one of her arms and magically produced a replica of the page the villains wanted.

“Wow,” Henry exclaimed. “You’re getting good.”

“I’ve been practicing,” Emma smiled at him and then at Regina, proud of herself and somewhat adorably so.

But Regina didn’t have time to think about how adorable Emma looked or the fact that she was also proud that Emma was serious enough about her magic to practice on her own time and actually learn something.

“A forgery,” she rhetorically asked as she yanked the page right out of the open and gloved palm of Emma’s hand. “This is Gold we’re talking about.”

“Then pull out and we will protect you,” Emma firmly suggested.

“We still don’t know what they’re up to. It’s a bigger risk not to know.”

She set the page down on top of the book not long after Henry had opened it up to the place in the book they kept the original page. Her phone chimed with a message and she sighed as she pulled out her phone again to check it.

“That’s them. Probably wondering where I am.”

“Mom. The forgery’s good,” Henry insisted.

“Not good enough,” she flatly replied. “But maybe what we need…is a different _kind_ of copy.”

She opened the camera on her phone and then held the device over the book.

“Because Gold and those witches don’t know that the page contains the actual door,” Emma pieced it together, both of her arms crossed over her chest again.

Regina snapped the picture with the press of a button and the auto flash setting in affect.

“All they care about is what the door looks like,” Emma finished.

“Hopefully this picture will help keep them on their wild goose chase around town.” She dropped the phone back into her pocket and looked sadly at Henry as she turned to face him. “I’ve got to get going. Bye, Henry.”

Henry met her halfway for a hug and she held him tightly enough not to suffocate or further worry him but still keep him pressed closely to her like she wasn’t ever going to let go. And honestly, in that moment that was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Okay, Mom.”

“Sorry. Sorry,” she apologized and finally pulled away. “Just not sure if— _when_ …I’ll be back to see you.”

She tried to smile like her slip up was just an honest mistake and wasn’t at all how she felt about whether or not she’d actually be able to come back to him. It didn’t work to calm or assure him that she wasn’t taking a huge risk going back to the group of villains, however, because he stared back at her with big, concerned brown eyes. He only could have looked more terrified for her if he’d actually started to shake and shiver, which he almost started to do.

Not long after the words left her mouth, Henry’s lower lip wobbled and she was sure he was about to cry. She quickly reached up and took his chin between her index finger and thumb.

“But don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” she sternly rushed to silence his panic.

She leaned in and placed a hand on his back and kissed his forehead before she pulled away and shot Emma a quick look that she hoped said, “Take care of him” and not “I’m scared I’ll never see him again.”

No matter how true both statements actually were.

* * *

Emma made her way back to the apartment with Henry and she was on edge. If there was any way she could have convinced Regina to walk away from her undercover mission, it would have been the look on Henry’s face when they said goodbye. Apparently, it mattered more to Regina to get answers than to save her son the potential heartbreak he’d suffer if she couldn’t make it back to him.

And then of course Regina still wanted help with Robin. After how she’d seen Regina kiss Maleficent, she was pretty sure Robin wouldn’t have even been a footnote in her mind anymore let alone a fixture in her most recent dream. It wasn’t really Emma’s place to say anything, though. Friends didn’t let friends date the scum of the Earth, but could Emma really tell Regina to just forget about Robin Hood altogether when he was supposedly her soulmate? She’d promised to get Regina her happy ending and if Robin was a part of that happy ending, she was honor-bound to make it happen. Even if she wasn’t a huge fan of the guy that would leave his wife for his girlfriend as soon as Marian’s health took a turn for the worst.

But it wasn’t any of her business, even as Regina’s friend. There were boundaries and she had to be careful not to overstep them.

She tried not outwardly express her thoughts and feelings about Regina’s decision to return to the cabin for Henry’s sake. The poor kid looked tortured enough after their last conversation with his other mother. He might have been growing up fast, but he was still just shy of thirteen and that was much too young to be so concerned about his parents’ well-being almost twenty-four/seven.

Her last thought as Emma opened the front door was that maybe Henry was such a big worry-wart because Regina was quick to tense up and question anything she wasn’t used to because she saw it as a threat. As soon as she walked into the apartment, Henry close behind her, she noticed Hook was already there with her parents. He didn’t look all that happy to see her. In fact, he looked nervous like he didn’t know how to say what was on his mind.

“Killian? What’s wrong,” she asked as she started to unbutton her red coat.

“Poseidon told me what Gold’s plan is. He said Ursula told him to leave and he almost made it to the woods before Ursula called him back in and remembered she’d made a deal with me.”

“Wait, you made a deal with Ursula,” Henry asked.

“Aye. She’s only ever wanted one thing as long as I’ve known her. I thought if I offered to give it back that she would tell us what the villains are planning.”

“So? What’s their plan,” Emma asked.

“To get their happy endings they intend to darken your heart, love. They’ll turn you into a villain so you’ll no longer be the Savior.”

“What,” she asked, both completely confused and surprised.

She looked at her parents and both of them seemed chilled to the bone.

“You can’t just un-Savior the Savior,” Henry said.

“Ursula told her father that Gold has a way. He can use the Author to do it.”

“That’s insane. If that’s their plan, stop worrying because it’s ridiculous. Author or no Author, I am not going dark.”

She couldn’t. Not when Regina was too close to those damn villains and she had to be the one to pull her out if she got herself into trouble. She couldn’t get Regina out of there if she was dark enough to work with Gold and the rest of them.

“The darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up in you.”

Hook had an expression on his face, so stoic and negatively determined, and Emma knew he was talking from experience.

“No one, not Rumpelstiltskin or the Author, gets to decide who I am,” she firmly stated.

She offered him a hug and hoped it was enough to placate him, because for some reason her heart wasn’t quite in it.

Behind her, she overheard her parents whisper to each other. But they spoke too low and too fast while she was still trapped in Hook’s arms. A moment later, just as she started to pull away from Hook, her mother stormed out of the apartment.

Her eyes widened and snapped from her mother to her father, who puffed out a breath as he seemed to briefly struggle to find a good excuse for Snow’s strange behavior.

“She’ll be fine,” he smiled at her. It felt forced and fake and Emma didn’t think anything, least of all her mother, was fine.

* * *

Regina took several short breaths in as she approached the cabin. She unclenched and clenched her fists at her sides as well and tried to prepare herself for the role she needed to portray extremely well if she ever expected to see her fam—her  _son_ —again. She stopped on the porch just outside the front door and closed her eyes. She took one final breath, deep inhale and slow exhale, and opened her eyes as soon as she felt relaxed enough not to jump in fear when the group inside decided to throw something villainous her way that she wasn’t in any way willing to do.

As calmly, coolly, and collected as she could manage, Regina opened the door and slipped inside with an almost bored look on her face. She didn’t even look around the cabin to see where everyone else was before she started to close the door behind herself. Just when she was about to completely shut the door, she heard Cruella half-hiss, half-growl out her impatience.  

“Oh, at last. I feel I’ve aged a decade waiting for you.”

“Well, you certainly look like it,” Regina spat back, partially because she was in character but more so because she really didn’t like Cruella’s attitude and she was never one to take punches lying down.

“Where’s the page, Regina,” Maleficent slowly and commandingly asked.

Both of her hands were in the front pockets of her gray pants and her expression left no room for arguments or jokes. Maleficent wanted an answer and Regina had to give one fast or suffer some kind of consequences. They might have had their sweet moments with each other in the past while they’d explored all kinds of fun things to do together that were less than innocent, but when Maleficent used that tone Regina knew all too well everything would stop being a game if the blonde wasn’t satisfied.

“Don’t tell me you failed,” Rumple said.

She puffed out a quick sigh and leaned forward, placed her hand on the back of the chair at the kitchen table, and used it to brace and steady herself.

“The page was under a protection spell,” she lied and tried to be as quick on her feet as possible. “Something cooked up by the Savior. She almost caught me trying to break it. I had to flee.”

“And who taught her that neat little trick,” Maleficent prowled toward her with a raised brow.

Regina narrowed her focus onto Maleficent only while she considered the odds of whether or not she would have to further explain herself to the other woman. It certainly didn’t look good that Emma knew magic at all when everyone knew Rumple would have been the last person to actually mentor the Savior. He never had anything to gain from her practicing magic, even in Neverland, and no matter how many times he’d worked with the good guys he’d never really done anything unless it in some way serviced his needs.

“Are you sure that’s what happened,” Rumple cut in and interrupted her stare down with Maleficent.

The blonde stopped a couple of feet in front of her and Regina’s eyes flicked from Maleficent to Rumple. She kept her expression neutral and didn’t even blink when she looked at him. If she showed any hesitation, she knew they would all think she was guilty of something. It would be seen as weakness, a sign that she had indeed gone soft while she spent so much of her time with Emma and the others.

“Of course I am,” she replied.

“It’s just that you’ve been gone an awfully long time,” he said and followed Maleficent’s lead as he slowly walked toward her, his approach a threat in its own right. “And yet you come back empty handed.”

Cruella followed close behind and the two of them stopped next to Maleficent, all three of them so close—too close—to her for comfort. She felt like a gazelle that had idiotically walked right into the lions’ den and the lions were famished.

“I’m not empty handed,” she insisted with a small grin as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone. “I got this.”

She opened the picture of the page and held it out to the other three, her grin bigger like she was actually proud of what she had to show them. Proud of her success, _their_ success.

“A photograph,” Rumple said as Cruella ripped the phone from her hand.

“Oh, and an incompetent one, too,” Cruella harshly commented and shoved the phone back in Regina’s face, which Rumple intercepted. “That glare ruins any clear view of the door.”

Rumple studied the picture for a moment before he said, “No, that’s not a glare.”

Rumple kept her phone, his eyes still trained on the picture as he started to circle around Regina. She turned to follow him so her back was never once to him. As much as the group didn’t seem to trust her, she trusted all of them even less.

“It’s magic,” Rumple informed them. “This door’s been sealed by it.”

Regina’s eyes widened. She realized as much almost too late to control the reason behind why she looked so shocked, but she hoped that she’d been able to mask her fear with disbelief, like what Rumple had said was all new information to her, soon enough not to concern the rest of them.

“This is the door we’ve been looking for,” he added.

Her face fell. They’d figured it out and all because she knew taking the forgery back to Gold wasn’t going to do her any good. It seemed the picture wasn’t such a great idea after all. A picture of the forgery might have been passable, but at that point she would never know for sure and thanks to her, the villains were still too far ahead in the race to find the Author.

“You think the Author is trapped inside an illustration,” Maleficent deduced. “But that would mean—”

“The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book,” Rumple finished Maleficent’s thoughts. “We need to get it. Bring us the page.”

His voice was much lower when he demanded her to bring them the one thing they needed. It was a growl through gritted teeth and she wasn’t sure there was a way around it, but she was going to try her hardest to take her time getting them the page.

He handed her phone back to her and she ran through all the believable excuses she could give him employed to buy her some time.

“That won’t be easy,” she said. “The Savior isn’t about to let it out of her sight.”

“Don’t worry about her. I’ve got just the thing,” Maleficent said from directly behind her.

Regina turned and looked over the other woman who was completely serious about whatever threat she had up her sleeve for Emma. She definitely didn’t like the way Maleficent looked or sounded when she made such an ominous suggestion and she narrowed her eyes at the blonde as she wondered what Maleficent could possibly have planned.

* * *

“It’s done,” Maleficent said as the five of them stood at the lookout point in the woods that gave them the perfect view of the entire town. “Now let’s get to work.”

Regina had watched the purple wave pass over the town and she knew, she just knew, Maleficent had put the entire town to sleep. It was the one form of magic, aside from turning into a dragon, that Maleficent was best at and what she was most known for. It also made perfect sense to knock everyone out because if they were unconscious, none of the heroes could get in their way.

The only thing Regina was grateful for in that moment was that Maleficent hadn’t outright killed them all. She knew even villains, who were selfish and took what they wanted by any means necessary, often tried not to just kill people that got in their way. Sure, she’d slaughtered whole villages filled with innocent people, but that was to torture Snow. She used their deaths to provoke the girl into coming out of hiding, or at least to make her suffer knowing that all the people that lost their lives were on Snow’s hands almost as much as they were on Regina’s.

That was never really Maleficent’s style, however, and the woman at least had some compassion and human decency not to be too harsh with her punishments if it wasn’t truly required to achieve the goals she wanted to reach.

The five of them stepped away from the edge and walked back through the woods in the direction of the town. As they walked, Maleficent stayed behind the rest of the group with Rumple while Cruella and Ursula led the way. Regina was caught in the middle. In front of two out of the four villains she traveled with, but not in charge as she took them one way or the other through the woods in case she tried to lead them astray. Her position among the group, while she was free to do as she pleased and make any kind of decision she wanted at any time, was that of a prisoner. Even if it seemed like she might not be the only one completely dedicated to their mission, or at least dedicated to it for the same reasons, she was the main target of their suspicions. She was in murky water and she knew if she didn’t keep treading lightly she would surely drown.

As they made their way to their first and seemingly only stop in town, Regina tried to keep her head down and not reveal how worried she actually was about the plan as she’d been informed about so far. Occasionally, however, she looked up to see either Ursula or Cruella looking over their shoulders at her. When Cruella looked at her, it was with anger and what came across as jealousy. But when Ursula looked at her, it was with soft eyes. It was with an almost knowing, if not curious, expression. Cruella looked threatened by her, but Ursula seemed to acknowledge her like maybe they had more in common than Regina thought. It was perplexing to say the least.

Their walk took about fifteen minutes before Regina and the others approached the older apartment building in which all of the Charming’s resided. She kept her mask firmly in place, but breathed deeply through her nose and tensed up as her anxiety about what would happen next overwhelmed her.

Cruella and Ursula stopped in front of the building and stepped away from each other to make room for her as they gestured toward the building’s entrance.

“After you,” Cruella flatly insisted.

Her eyes, for once, gave nothing away even as she swallowed the lump in her throat and then took the first step toward the main door. She headed up the familiar stairs in the dingy green and yellow hallway and stared up at the apartment with the rusty, brownish-gold number three on the door.

With her back to everyone else, she finally let her concern for who might still be in the apartment, helpless and completely unaware of the danger that was encroaching, show through her wide eyes. She used the time it took to reach the top floor to be reluctant about intruding with the villains hot on her heels, but she didn’t wait for even a second once she was right in front of the door. She magically opened it and glided inside like she owned the place.

While she had the time, she took a quick glance around the apartment to see who was left behind. When she finally looked into the living room, she saw Emma and Hook, the younger woman’s head on his shoulder as they slept. For the most part, Emma’s hands were in her own lap, but her leg was pressed against Hook’s and her right arm rested between their thighs. A moment of disgust and what felt a lot like disappoint passed through her as she looked at the couple so peaceful and snug on the couch, but then she heard three sets of heels enter behind her on the hardwood floor and she was once again concerned.

 _Hurt the handless wonder_ , she thought. _Don’t hurt her_.

She knew Ursula and the pirate had a history like the kind she had with Snow, except she was sure it was less complicated between him and Ursula, and only one of the people on that couch deserved payback. Even if it was self-serving for her to have the chance of seeing Hook punished, the pirate still hadn’t even apologized for letting her be tortured by Owen and Tamara. She might have deserved Owen’s wrath, but Hook was the one that led her to him like a lamb to a slaughter and then walked away.

Regina walked right past the living room and decided to snoop in Snow and Charming’s little section of the apartment. Their bedroom was nothing more than a queen sized bed with a canopy to give them some privacy.

As she made her way to the area of the first floor that was farthest from Emma, she unconsciously placed a hand over her stomach out of nervous habit. The only time she’d ever performed that action because of Emma Swan was when she feared the younger woman would find a way to take their son away from her. Never in all the time that she’d known the blonde had it been because she was worried about the woman’s safety. But in that moment, she was right to be concerned.

“The Savior looks a lot less threatening in this state, doesn’t she,” Maleficent cockily noted.

Regina’s stomach flipped as she heard the other blonde talk about Emma.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to wring her scrawny neck right now,” Cruella growled.

Regina shut the bedside table drawer she’d pretended to look through for the page and rushed out to an area of the apartment she could make sure neither Cruella nor Maleficent could lay a hand on Emma.

“Don’t even think about it,” she demanded without thinking.

Everyone immediately turned and stared at her while a tense, awkward silence filled the room. Maleficent looked at her like she’d been expecting Regina to say something like that, but hadn’t wanted to be right. Cruella looked pissed that she was being told not to have her fun, and by Regina of all people. Ursula, yet again, looked at her like she knew more than she was letting on and they definitely had more in common than she had yet to share or explain to Regina. And Rumple looked at her like he was most surprised out of everyone to witness her protecting Emma so vehemently. He actually almost looked like he wasn’t quite sure what to believe anymore while he tried to figure her out.

“I think we can all agree that killing the Savior at this point would be ill-advised,” she explained and then made a quick exit, sort of, to the white, wooden cabinet between the kitchen and Snow and Charming’s bed.

“You’re wrong about the location of the page,” Rumple said and started to approach her while he switched gears from his previous shock to those suspicions Regina wished she hadn’t stirred back up in him again. “It’s not here.”

“We just have to keep looking,” she softly suggested. “The page was here two hours ago. It didn’t just grow legs and walk out of here on its own.”

“Unless someone walked out of here with it,” he countered.

“I put the whole town to sleep,” Maleficent insisted, bored as she leaned on her hand against the counter in the kitchen with one ankle crossed over the other and a hand in her front pants pocket.

“Except those who have been under a sleeping curse and are immune,” Rumple pointed out.

She froze on the spot, her hand buried in the shallow basket that held all of the Charming’s mail, and lifted her head as her eyes widened with twice as much concern as she had when she entered the apartment.

“I might know a resourceful young man who’s wide awake,” Rumple added.

She pivoted on her heel and glared at Rumple before she shook her head.

“He’s very protective of the storybook and all its contents,” Rumple continued, his eyes glued only on Regina even as he spoke to the entire group. “One who’s going to test his mother’s commitment to helping me.”

Her glare had quickly softened the more he spoke, her heart weakened by the fear she felt for her son due to the target on his back. There was a reason she’d gone undercover in the first place: to protect Emma and gather useful information about the villains’ plan. When she agreed to risk her life, she did not sign up for putting Henry’s in jeopardy as well. And while her efforts with the group came from trying to keep Emma as far away from them as possible, her first concern and priority was always Henry. Not to mention, the other woman was an adult and possessed magic. She might not have known what she was getting herself into, but Emma wasn’t completely helpless either.

She had no choice, however. She had to stand by the others even as they sought out Henry to retrieve the page any way they saw fit. It only took them a second after Rumple caught them up on just who probably had the page they were after before Cruella, and then Rumple, almost bolted out of the apartment.

A quick look to Maleficent and Ursula and both women seemed less hostile and more resistant about going after Henry, which was slightly comforting, but it didn’t make her feel any better about the other two who looked like they were out for blood. She didn’t waste another moment in the apartment with Ursula and Maleficent and instead hurried after Rumple and Cruella as they hastily left the building. The two other women followed closely behind her.

She sped up her pace and cut out in front of Rumple and Cruella, determined to take charge even if the others didn’t like her at the head of the group.

“ _No one_ goes near Henry except me. If you have a problem with that you can take it up with one of my fireballs.”

Rumple stopped when they reached the sidewalk, but Regina kept going. While she’d made it clear she was the only one that would deal with Henry, her former mentor had something else in mind.

“Follow her,” she faintly heard him say before she walked too far ahead to hear anything else.

She had to reach her son first. If she didn’t, she wasn’t sure which of the other women would step in or what they would do to him if he didn’t hand over the page. And she knew Henry well enough to know he wouldn’t hand over the page, even to his own mother, without a fight.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took a little longer to post. Hope it was worth the slight delay.

Regina was almost halfway to the Author’s mansion before she figured out who had followed after her. She tried not to pay too much attention to the other woman’s body heat as it warmed her side and back. The woman was right behind her and didn’t struggle at all to keep pace with her. It had been a while, but she was familiar with the action and the way it felt to be so closely followed.

“Do you think you could refrain from breathing down my neck, dear? I’m worried you’ll singe my hair with your dragon breath.”

Maleficent throatily chuckled.

"Yes, I'm sure _that’s_ what you're worried about," the other woman sarcastically said, her words drawn out in a smug tone.

Regina didn't respond, just kept walking toward where she thought Henry might have gone with the book. Maleficent's presence was still all too obvious given the woman's lack of care for personal space. In the past, Regina had liked it more than she had fought against it whenever she and the blonde were together. As she went to find her son and ask for the one thing that would give the villains everything they needed to destroy too many people's happy endings while they got their own, Regina wanted nothing more than to be rid of the woman. She wanted—no, _needed_ —room to breathe.

"Why are you so reluctant to have me around," Maleficent asked after a moment. "Ursula and Cruella I understand, but me? We've known each other far longer and far better."

"Did it ever occur to you that might be the problem?"

"Regina, you know you can trust me. ...But if you _can't_ then who _can_ you trust?"

Again, Regina remained silent. She quickened her pace just a little more even though she was close to breaking into a sprint by then. Maleficent truly did know way too much about her and knew just what questions to ask and buttons to push. She hadn't always, but Regina had cared about and trusted her enough to provide that kind of information over time.

"If you're afraid I'll use force on him, you shouldn't," Maleficent cut through the tension, though it did nothing to lessen it.

"Why would I be worried about that," Regina dryly asked.

Maleficent let out a small, evilly delighted laugh.

“Really, Regina. You think after everything that’s happened, including the other night against the car, that I would make it my mission and number one priority to hurt you?”

Regina rolled her eyes, an action Maleficent couldn’t see, and then remembered her conversation with Emma about that night against the car.

“What are you thinking about,” she heard Maleficent ask before the blonde stepped up and walked beside her.

If only Maleficent knew. Regina withheld the laughter at the other woman’s potential shock and outrage if she ever found out. Of all the people to think about, the Savior, hero of all heroes. And she herself was supposed to be back to her evil ways.

“I’m thinking about Henry, of course,” she answered.

“Of course,” Maleficent practically growled, like she detected the lie instantly.

During the rest of the walk toward the one place Regina figured Henry would run to in the hopes that no one but her or Emma would think to look, the two of them said nothing more. They only heard the clack of their heels against the concrete as they made their way to the Author’s mansion.

Once they entered the mansion, Maleficent broke away from her and they worked independently to find Henry. Maleficent, whether purposely or not, fell behind as Regina made her way over to the secret room she was sure she’d find Henry in. As the wall-turned-secret-door groaned while it slid open, she quickly moved through the passageway and was instantly greeted by Henry’s voice.

“Grandma, Grandpa,” he exclaimed with relief, the book tucked under his arm as he stood in front of a desk. “You’ll never believe what I just—”

Henry cut himself off as soon as he saw her.

“What, Henry,” she asked.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

She approached him slowly and shook her head, sad eyes in effect so he would know she was being sincere regardless of what would happen.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to come to this.”

Maleficent sauntered into the hidden room before he could respond. His face fell and he looked back and forth between the blonde and her, a little confused but mostly disappointed. Regina was sure that disappoint had everything to do with her not being able to slip away from the group to meet. The look in his eyes told her he knew they were in trouble if one of the villains had to come with her.

“Looks like we’re here just in time.”

“I told you I could handle this,” Regina sternly said to Maleficent as the blonde came to stand as close as she had when she’d walked behind her on their way over to the mansion.

“Well, you won’t have to do anything as long as he cooperates,” Mal said and then looked to Henry like she dared him to make a move.

 _Please don’t act like Emma right now_ , Regina hoped and begged in her mind. _I need you to be subtle and she’s always so obvious._

“Henry, give me the page,” she said with her strict-mother voice.

“Mom, no,” he insisted.

“Henry Daniel Mills,” she almost barked. “You _will_ do as I say.”

For a long moment, they stared at each other and neither one of them blinked. At least he’d learned never to back down from both of his mothers. Being stubborn wasn’t always a good quality to have, but she was proud he took a stand even if it didn’t benefit her at the moment.

When it seemed like Maleficent was going to step in at any second, she furrowed her brow and tried to give him a look that meant she needed the page but didn’t want the villains to have it. She knew Henry would be smart enough to think it through and hoped that meant he’d also give them the fake Emma made. Her biggest hope was that the villains wouldn’t figure it out right away and it would buy her some time. Besides, she could always argue that Maleficent kept a watchful eye on her the entire time she was with Henry to retrieve the page. The fake had Emma’s magic all over it, not her own. Henry was the one that gave her the fake and Maleficent hopefully wouldn’t have gotten a good look at her to know she’d sent her son signals throughout the exchange.

Reluctantly, Henry slipped a page out of the book and slowly handed it over to her. She took it and held it out while Maleficent stepped up and grabbed it for herself.

“As promised,” she told the other woman. “Now let’s find Gold and set this Author free.”

Maleficent flashed a small smirk at her and then looked partially over her shoulder, her body angled toward Regina, to get a look at Henry. She softened her smirk and managed to smile at him. It was almost sweet, but Regina could tell Henry was unsettled.

“You’ve done a fine job with him,” Maleficent complimented her and then addressed Henry directly. “You’re every bit as strong as your mother.”

“You don’t even know me,” he argued, his eyes narrowed in a glare.

Maleficent laughed then said, “And you have her bite. Fantastic.”

The blonde looked amused and pleased. It was as if Maleficent was happy to know that Henry took after Regina and while Regina wanted to proud of that fact, it was strange to see Maleficent be so friendly with him.

Maleficent stepped closer to her and brushed her hand up Regina’s arm from wrist to elbow. Regina watched as her son noticed Maleficent’s intimate touch and he was immediately confused by it. She knew that if she ever made it back to him, they’d probably need to talk about a few things.

Henry met her gaze once again just as Maleficent started to pull her along and away from her son. They shared a brief look that told Regina he wasn’t afraid and she then communicated with her eyes again how much she appreciated what he did. Secretly, she just hoped it would work.

Maleficent gently guided her to turn around and face the direction they were headed and once she gave Henry that final look, she did as Maleficent wanted and turned. The two of them walked out of the mansion side by side and the blonde even had the nerve to lightly place her hand on the middle of her back while her son was still in clear view of them. She didn’t mind that he saw her so close with another woman. She’d raised him to be very open-minded, aside from the black and white way he saw heroes and villains despite her teachings about gray areas, and she knew what confused him about Maleficent’s touches had nothing to do with the blonde being the same sex as his mother. She knew without a doubt what truly confused her son was that Maleficent was supposed to be one of the villains, willing to take what she needed by force to get her happy ending. To see a villain touch his mother in such a way could have implied that she’d gotten much closer to the group than she’d let him and Emma believe and that was what most likely threw him off.

Regina walked just a little bit further ahead so Maleficent’s hand pressed against air instead of her body. She hastily made her way around the corner and out of Henry’s sight as Maleficent confidently trailed behind at a more leisurely pace.

* * *

When Emma woke up, she was momentarily in a haze. She blinked away her sleepiness, which she hadn’t felt before she’d passed out, but continued to hit her full force even as she came out of it. Something else that hit her full force was the dream she’d had when she was unconscious.

_She was alone in a dark room. Nothing else but her and the air she breathed existed. That was until she saw a figure move through the shadows._

_For a moment, she was on high alert and searched everywhere for her gun. She had no weapon on her and suddenly, a wave of panic washed over her. It flooded all of her senses and overwhelmed her. She wasn’t sure where she was, what had happened to her, and who or what was in the room with her._

_The figure moved again. It crossed between one shadowy corner of the room to another and passed in front of a single sliver of a dim, white light. She took a giant step back and tried to take a deep breath. She only gasped and then proceeded to breathe shallowly._

_“Who’s there,” she called out, but there was no reply._

_Everything was still for a short while and just when she thought she might be alone, the figure appeared in front of the light again. The silhouetted figure made its way toward her and she felt her heart beat faster and harder in her chest. She backed away from whatever tried to approach her while she slowly felt her survival instincts kick in and build up within her._

_As she backed away, she decided to use it as a way to buy time while she came up with a way to get around whatever stood in front of her. She couldn’t see anything else in the room but the light and the unidentifiable figure that moved toward her so she had no real escape route._

_Except that the only source of light in the dark room implied there was at least one way out after all._

_She hoped that if she darted either left or right that she would be able to run around the figure and make a break for the light. She soon tested that theory and bolted when the figure got too close for comfort._

_She felt a hand reach out and grab her, possibly in an attempt to stop her, and she yanked her arm away from the hand before she kicked out with her right leg and struck something._

_“Ow!”_

_The figure had a voice. It was also capable of letting out a coherent groan of pain that sounded human. The figure was a person._

_She didn’t stick around to find out who it was that wanted to get close to her in a dark room so she continued to sprint toward the light. Closer and closer she came to getting to the light and the farther she was from the darkness in the room and whoever was in it with her, the better and more elated she felt._

_She was almost there, so close. She could feel a slight warmth on her skin as she was bathed in the low light. Just as she started to smile and feel a little more relaxed, another figure appeared._

_Emma stopped in her tracks without hesitation and stood completely still as she stared ahead at the dark figure. She was sure it was also human, however, as she looked it over from head to toe. It stood directly in the light and didn’t make a move toward her. It seemed non-threatening. Maybe it was a friend._

_Emma furrowed her brow and squinted as if that would have helped her identify whoever was in front of her. Soon enough, she didn’t have to wonder or guess or try to get a closer, better, look._

_The lights in the room came on and Emma saw the person in front of her was actually Regina. Regina with her dark hair and her soft, chocolate eyes. Regina with her faintly red lips to match the red scarf she wore. Regina with a body frame Emma admired and a voice as smooth as silk most days._

_“It’s you,” Emma breathed out._

_Regina’s lips slowly started to curl into a smile and Emma felt a burst of energy and life. She felt comforted and safe, taken care of in a way she hadn’t felt in such a long time if she ever felt that way at all. She felt…protected. It was strange because it didn’t make any sense, but it did feel right. She couldn’t explain why, but it indeed felt right. Of that she was certain._

_Regina’s smile got brighter and brighter and Emma started to smile, too. Until Regina’s focus seemed to shift to a place just behind Emma and it started to become more obvious that Regina’s smile wasn’t directed at her, maybe never was._

_And then a man’s voice spoke from behind her just before someone gently pushed her aside on their way past her._

_“Regina,” an unfortunately familiar voice said the other woman’s name with relief and reverence._

_“Robin!”_

_Regina seemed to swoon over him as he brushed past Emma and swooped into the brunette’s personal space._

_Emma watched with despair as Robin wrapped his arms around her waist and Regina slid her hands from his shoulders to the back of his neck. It all happened seconds before they kissed and as their lips locked, Regina ran her fingers through his hair._

_She cringed as she watched, but she also felt her chest get heavy. There was a weight inside of her that almost plummeted into her gut and made her want to scream and cry and run._

_When Regina and Robin broke apart, both were a little breathless but continued to smile at each other. Then, they both looked over at Emma with their smiles still plastered across their glowing faces and she heard the words that should have made her feel good, but instead they cut her worse than any blade._

_“Thank you, Emma,” Regina said._

_“Without you we wouldn’t have found our happy ending,” Robin added._

As exhausted as Emma felt upon waking up, nothing compared to the feeling of discouragement and loneliness that carried over from her dream. Reality was only slightly more bearable than the dream, but only when Regina didn’t mention the guy who ran off to New York with his wife and son for a second chance at happiness with his family.

While Emma understood Regina falling for the guy, she felt the urge to remind the brunette that she didn’t need Robin and Roland. She already had a family. And they made a pretty great one in Emma’s opinion. Of course, it still wasn’t her place to say anything like that to Regina and ultimately, it was Regina’s choice who she wanted to be with. Not that Emma wanted Regina to be with her. Did she?

No, she just wanted Regina to be happy and she didn’t think Robin Hood was going to be the person to make that happen. But it was what Regina wanted and Emma wasn’t going to stand in the way of her happiness. She couldn’t. Regina deserved it and deserved to have everything she wanted because Emma knew all too well what it was like to be given the short end of the stick time after time after time. She and Regina were the types of people that had to keep fighting for their happiness while others just had it handed to them. It wasn’t fair or right and sometimes it made the people that lacked their happiness think there was something wrong with them.

Someone groaned beside her and Emma looked over at the person she’d only then realized she’d fallen asleep on was coming out of their own slumber as well. She frowned and noted that she hadn’t remembered falling asleep let alone falling asleep with Hook, but there he was. Hook was on the couch next to her and looked almost as groggy as she did.

Emma pulled away from him and sat up. She ran a hand through her hair and leaned forward before she placed her forearms on her knees. She suddenly felt a little nauseous. However she had ended up asleep, Emma could tell there was magic involved. Her body chemistry felt all wrong and the more she tried to piece together the events that led up to the point she fell asleep, she started to recall purple smoke.

It wasn’t Regina’s. It couldn’t have been. Emma blinked a few more times and thought a little harder about it before she remembered.

“It was lighter.”

“What’s that, love,” Hook asked as he slowly sat up beside her.

“The magic. It came over the entire town. It was purple, but it wasn’t Regina’s. It was lighter than hers.”

“You know the color of Regina’s magic,” he asked, confused and maybe even hurt if that was in fact the look Emma recognized on his face.

“Well, yeah. If you’re around it enough, you kind of just pick up on things like that.”

The apartment door suddenly opened and Emma shot onto her feet, not sure who to expect on the other side.

Then her parents appeared. She exhaled with a heavy breath of relief, glad it wasn’t one or all of the villains, and she immediately relaxed her previously tensed shoulders.

“You’re awake,” her mother pointed out.

“Yeah. How were we even asleep?”

“A sleeping curse,” her father answered. “Of sorts.”

“What,” Emma asked with surprise.

“Henry said Maleficent and Regina came to get the page from him. He gave them the forgery,” Charming replied. “Apparently, Regina was able to give him a look and he just understood.”

Emma wanted to smile at that, but there was too much going on and the dream she’d just had was enough to torment her for the rest of the week at the very least.

“Emma…” Snow hesitantly started to speak with a guilty expression. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

And there was a lot they had to share.

Emma and Hook took the seats at the bar in the kitchen while Snow and Charming took turns either rushing through what they had to say or taking it slow so Emma would understand every last syllable they spoke.

Her mother spit everything out in what sounded like one long breath while her father tried to make sure Emma knew they thought they had done the right thing at the time they’d made their decision. Their decision to trade away any potential darkness in her only to be placed directly into another innocent soul, a child. _Maleficent’s_ child.

“This whole time…I knew you were lying to me,” Emma said, unable to look at either one of them. “I wanted to believe you. I wanted to believe _in_ you.”

She slid her thumb up and down and over the curve of the top of the key her parents had given her when they explained that Henry found the key to the door. From there they finally thought it was the best time to tell her about their awful choices in the past that very clearly affected the present and it wasn’t only their problem anymore. It was hers and Regina’s and Henry’s and all because they made a mess they couldn’t clean up.

“Emma, we—”

“No! All this time I’ve been trying to be the Savior, the hero everyone expects me to be, and I did it because I thought…I thought I could be the daughter you always wanted me to be. A daughter to be proud of, to be a hero…like her parents.”

“But you are,” Charming tried to say, but Emma just shook her head and refused to listen. “And we were just…we were just trying to protect you.”

Emma ground her teeth, her jaw tightly set and her eyes red under the bottom lids. There was so much to take in. Regina’s risk taking, the dream she’d had while under a sleeping curse, her parents lying to her and _what_ they had lied about.

“Emma, are you okay,” Hook asked and tried to touch her wrist.

Emma ripped her hand away from his fast enough that she almost hit her chest and her other arm.

“No,” she quietly said with an angry, intent glare fixated on both her parents as she spoke. “I’m not okay.”

She got up and made her way toward the door. She had to get away from them, all of them. She wanted to be alone and she definitely didn’t want to see or talk to her parents again for quite a while. She needed time and space.

Right when she opened the door, Snow hurried toward her.

“Please, stop,” Snow placed a hand on the door and pleadingly looked at her. “I’m your _mother_.”

Emma very slowly turned her head to look at the woman, even more pissed off to hear those words come from Snow’s mouth as if they would change anything.

“I don’t care,” she flatly and very seriously stated before she swiftly made her exit.

* * *

Rumpelstiltskin had disappeared inside the pawn shop minutes ago while Cruella helped them both pass the time by running her fingers up and down Ursula’s ribs through her tight top. Ursula stared at her, part of her amused and part of her a little turned on, while Cruella suggestively grinned at her. She started to smile at Cruella, a laugh on the tip of her tongue.

“You like that, darling,” Cruella asked, her eyes darkened and hooded with desire.

Ursula let out a small laugh and slowly started to lean in. Cruella gradually tilted her head to one side while she leaned in, ready to meet her halfway for a kiss, when they were abruptly interrupted.

“Well, don’t you two look absolutely _ravished_ ,” Maleficent cockily said.

Regina walked alongside the blonde, a little less enthusiastic. She looked like she just wanted to get everything over with and Ursula knew, she _understood_ , exactly what that felt like.

“You certainly wouldn’t know from recent experience, would you,” Cruella devilishly teased in response.

Maleficent snarled at Cruella and Cruella responded with a head tilt and a large smirk.

“Some of us can control ourselves,” Maleficent defended.

“Self-control is overrated,” Cruella argued and then changed the subject as she approached Maleficent and looked down at what the woman held in her hand. “Did you get the page?”

“What are we doing out here,” Regina asked and stepped closer to her and the shop door.

Ursula redirected her attention to Regina and tuned out whatever Maleficent and Cruella talked about a few feet away.

“Rumple’s in there. He told us to meet him here and Cruella and I saw him walk in there just as we arrived.”

Regina nodded like she expected as much.

“Do you know something we don’t,” Ursula asked.

“His wife—technically _ex_ -wife—took over the shop after she kicked him out of town. She’s in there a few extra days a week than she’s in the library. It’s really a shame.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s a complete bookworm. Always has been. If she’s going to spend more time anywhere in this town it should be the library.”

“She’s your friend,” Ursula deduced.

“Who? Belle? Hardly. I respect her. That’s all.”

“Anyone else in town you respect?”

Regina hesitated before she answered, “I can respect people and still be a villain.”

Ursula smiled.

“You’re right. Because I respect you, Regina,” she said.

Regina frowned and looked at her, curious and confused.

“Why,” the other woman asked.

“You’re committed, determined, and you take chances. Just…do someone a favor and don’t take too many.”

“Someone?”

Regina looked at her with big, wondering eyes. The brunette looked as if she thought she’d found the chord of conversation that would give her all the answers she’d been hoping for.

“You have people out there who care about you. Don’t do anything stupid or they’ll be the ones who suffer.”

Unfortunately, it seemed to be too late for that.

The bell above the shop jingled and Rumple joined the rest of them on the sidewalk. All conversation stopped and the four women looked over at him.

“What were you doing in there,” Cruella asked.

“None of your business,” he replied. “Did you find the boy?”

“We found the boy,” Maleficent answered.

“ _I_ found him,” Regina corrected her.

Rumple took the page from Maleficent and looked it over for a moment.

“This is rubbish,” he stated.

Regina didn’t look thrilled, but she didn’t look all that surprised either.

“What? How is it rubbish,” Regina asked.

“It’s a fake,” he replied, and Cruella appeared pissed beyond reason. “You spent enough time with the book. You should know the difference.”

Maleficent turned and glared at Regina. Although, her anger was nothing in comparison to the betrayal Ursula saw written all over her face.

“They _tricked_ me,” Regina argued.

“What, you think they didn’t suspect you,” Rumple asked while he tore the useless page in half and let it fall to the ground.

Ursula knew right then Rumple wasn’t really talking about the Charmings. She knew in that moment that Regina had always been a target since the second Rumpelstiltskin let her into their inner circle. Regina was never going to pull off working with them because he’d known her intentions from the start and knew she wasn’t on their side.

While that didn’t come as too much of a shock to Ursula that Regina’s interests were different from the rest of theirs, it also put many things into perspective and a lot easier to understand.

Like Emma’s concern for the woman. How could a hero fall for a villain? Simple. Regina wasn’t a villain anymore. Not to mention how protective Regina had been of the Savior on more than one occasion.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Rumple continued. “I knew it would come. Maleficent.”

It was too late for her. Regina wouldn’t escape them and Ursula had been too slow to warn her.

“Wait, I can expla—”

Maleficent waved a hand and Regina was immediately overcome with sleep. Her legs folded beneath her and she fell toward the ground, but Maleficent at least had enough compassion to catch Regina’s head before it hit the pavement.

“Bring her to the vault,” Rumple said before he got into his car, ready to lead the way toward the graveyard.

Ursula looked from Rumple to Regina and stared at her with sadness and sympathy in her eyes.

“Come on, darling. This one’s dead weight. We’re going to need all the muscle we can get,” Cruella said and Ursula dutifully crouched down and tried to help the other two load Regina into Cruella’s car.

 

* * *

Emma held out the key and took a deep breath. The book was open to the page with the door that would lead them all to the Author and it sat on August’s bed. The man started to look better, but was still very tired and sore from all the magical transformations he’d apparently endured.

Emma knew a lot more about the Author than she did before and she was unsure if she really even wanted to release him. He’d been trapped in the book for a reason and while he was still the Author and could alter the course of things, she wasn’t sure that wouldn’t come with a price. A big one.

She really wished Regina was there. She would have helped. She would have known what to do. But if the Author could alter things then Emma was freeing him to _help_ Regina. That was the reason they’d tried to find the Author in the first place. Before the villains came to town with the same plan, which Rumple had stolen from Regina. For a man that could see the future, he must have been really desperate for him to be unoriginal for the first time in all of his existence.

Emma felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She felt her parents hover behind her. It was like they were silently pressuring her to act faster, to do something or hand the key over so someone else could handle it. They were the last people she wanted to see, but they were there and she had to free the Author even though she had her doubts. She had nothing to offer him to convince him that changing the book was a good idea. From what she knew about him, he was pretty selfish if he thought what he wrote was so much better than what he’d observed.

But it was that kind of power they needed; the power to change things.

She took another deep breath and tried to calm herself. Her hands started to sweat and there was a heavy weight on her shoulders to do the right thing and be smart about what happened next. With that in mind, she took another step closer to the book and winced as she tried to get over how awkward it was to insert a gold key into the magical page of a storybook.

It fit into the paper lock all the same, however, and soon the light under the door in the illustration glowed brighter and brighter until the door on the page opened and stream of yellow light moved off the page and into the room with them.

When the light disappeared, August, Emma, and her parents saw a man on his knees on the other side of the room. He had black hair and wore clothes from the Enchanted Forest and he was real. He’d actually come out of the storybook and he was there with them.

The sides of his hair were a little gray and he groaned as he pushed onto his feet and straightened out. He popped the muscles in his back while he stretched and breathed out with relief before he moaned with the release of tension that had built up after many years inside a book.

“It was cramped in there. I couldn’t even reach this,” he explained with a large smile and pulled out a brown flask with a family crest on it. “And I was parched.”

“Where did you get that,” Emma heard her father ask while he tipped back the flask and took a generous drink from it.

“This,” he asked as he pulled it away from his mouth. “Uh, a nice, young couple on the road gave it to me. You want some? It’s sort of…nutmeg-y?”

Snow gasped and Emma turned to see the woman’s eyes light up with realization.

“You,” Snow breathed out with disbelief. “You…are the Author?”

Both of her parents looked stunned and confused.

“The peddler,” Charming asked.

He didn’t give an answer, but the look on his face said it all. They were right. The peddler and the Author were the same person. Whoever the peddler actually was, Emma had no idea.

“We have some questions,” she told him.

He breathed out a laugh and his eyes took on a dark glint.

“I bet you do,” he said.

In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the curtains above August’s bed and tugged them down along with the rod they were draped from before he fled the convent. The rod fell on Emma and her parents and forced them either down to the floor or directly on top of the foot of August’s bed. They were blinded by the red drapes, but Emma quickly scrambled around and freed herself from their restraint before she ran after the man.

Faster and faster she ran, out of the house and into the street until she took one turn too many and finally lost him. He was gone, vanished into thin air. She stopped and looked around as she struggled to catch her breath.

The street lamps were on and the sun had set hours ago. Aside from well-lit parts of the town, the Author had plenty of shadows to hide in until she gave up her search.

She gave herself a moment to think, but only a moment. She blinked and she went right back into action as she headed toward the Sheriff’s station.

Once she was there, she unlocked the building and grabbed a flashlight she kept on top of the filing cabinet behind her desk in case of an unexpected power outage. She turned it on and hurried back outside, careful to lock up as fast as she could before she headed to the easiest place for someone on the run to hide within the town limits.

Frustrated, out of breath, and tired, Emma stopped and looked around again. She was in the middle of the woods near the park and by then she’d searched for him for at least twenty minutes to no avail.

When her parents ran up behind her and heavily panted, even more out of breath than her, she was even more determined to do anything but talk to them. The only problem was, she had no idea where to even start looking for the guy and no idea where else to go.

“The Author,” Charming asked. “Where is he?”

“We lost him,” she admitted with defeat.

“We know him, Emma,” Snow reluctantly admitted.

“What?!”

“We met him a long time ago before you were born. He, uh—”

“Manipulated us,” Charming finished for her. “It was because of him that we were put on the path that caused Maleficent to lose her child.”

“It’s true,” Snow nodded, sad to confess such a thing but willing not to lie to Emma anymore.

“No, what’s true is no matter how you were manipulated you still did what you did and you _lied_ to me about it,” Emma raised her voice. “You’ve been lying to me about everything, about you, about _me_ , about—”

“That’s not the case,” Charming tried to explain. “It’s one incidence from our past.”

“Don’t downplay it,” she demanded.

“We’ve changed,” Snow chimed in. “We’ve tried to become the parents you deserve.”

“I am only the Savior because you altered the entire state of my being at the expense of another person’s _soul_!”

She wasn’t sure when she’d started to cry, but it was all too much. The day was exhausting even though she’d spent at least half of it asleep.

“You’re right. What we did was wrong,” Charming tried to reason with her. “But we…we didn’t fully understand what we were doing. We acted out of fear. We’re _human_.”

“Yeah, well, right now I don’t care,” she said, angry and also stubbornly set in her ways. “None of that matters now. We have to find that Author before Gold does.”

She stormed off and decided it was about time she checked another part of the woods, a part that was far, far away from wherever her parents were.

* * *

Cruella glared down at Regina as she lay completely helpless on the cold, hard ground of her own vault. She might not have been under a sleeping curse, but she wasn’t likely to wake up for some time.

“If I could have it my way, you wouldn’t wake up at all,” Cruella sneered at the woman.

She heard shuffling footsteps behind her before she heard Ursula speak.

“You know Rumple wants her alive.”

“Yes, well, so does the Savior apparently. You think I care what they want?”

“Cru…” Ursula softly said and came to stand beside her.

Ursula placed a hand on Cruella’s upper back and rested her chin on top of the other woman’s shoulder.

“She was always working with _them_ ,” Cruella growled. “Even she’s been wronged by the so-called heroes, but she only worked with us to make sure we didn’t succeed. Doesn’t that upset you?”

“Of course it does, but we can’t get too involved in what Regina did. That’s for Rumple to handle. Otherwise he’ll add us to the list of people that would cross him. I, for one, don’t want to be on that list. Do you?”

Cruella sighed and melted into Ursula who then wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her upright.

“No,” she grudgingly admitted.

“Come on. Let’s go above ground and enjoy the evening,” Ursula suggested and Cruella turned in time to see the woman’s heartwarming smile.

She rolled her eyes and snippily agreed. “Oh, alright.”

Ursula chuckled as the two of them turned away from Regina and made their way toward the stairs.

While they walked out, Maleficent walked in and looked down at Regina. She crouched down and ran her fingers through smooth, chocolate brown hair. It was a kind and caring gesture, one Maleficent was careful not to express too often.

“I don’t know why you bother,” Rumple said as he approached them. “Her heart no longer belongs to you.”

“Good, because I don’t think my heart has room for her right now. All I care about is finding out what happened to my child.”

Maleficent retracted her hand and stood up, her eyes solely on Rumple instead of Regina.

“You have the power to show me. Let me know what’s become of my child.”

“You didn’t get me the page, you didn’t _earn_ your answer. That was the deal.”

“That was the deal…but after all I’ve been through I believe I’ve _earned_ my answer.”

Rumple was silent, reflective, for a moment before he looked up into the mirror and looked at Maleficent’s reflection.

“I know. And I want to give you a last chance to preserve what you have.”

“What I have is pain.”

He slowly turned around and faced her before he told her, “And pain fades…unless you feed it. And this? This could be the meal you really don’t want.”

“Well, I’ve never seen my child. I don’t even know what I had. A boy, a girl. I don’t _care_ how much it hurts to know its fate. I _need_ this.”

Maleficent reached into the inside breast pocket of her jacket and retrieved the rattle that should have been her child’s.

Rumple carefully and slowly took it into his own hands and readied himself before he waved a hand in a circular motion over the top of the purple bauble.

“Now remember, this was thirty years ago,” he said as an image started to come together inside the rattle.

A baby cried loudly in someone’s arms, over and over. A man was there and tried to soothe her as a woman said the adoption was finalized and he could take her home.

“What will you name her,” the woman asked.

The man beamed at the baby and stroked the tip of his finger over one of her small, chubby upper arms.

“Lilith. We want to name her Lily.”

Maleficent blinked and a tear streamed down her face.

“She’s alive,” she cried. “And…”

“In this world,” Rumple finished for her.

“I must find her. There has to be a way…if she’s out there. Someone must knowher.”

She sniffled, but didn’t bother to wipe away her tears. She had hope once again. Her daughter—she finally knew she had a _daughter_ —was all she needed to be happy. There had to be a way, there had to be someone. All she cared about was her precious daughter. _Lily_.

* * *

It was after midnight and Emma still hadn’t found the Author. She’d searched the woods, the park, the pier, and everything in between. There was no sign of the Author anywhere. She worried that he was either that good at hiding or Gold had already found him.

She sat in her Bug in front of Granny’s Diner. It was the last place she’d parked her car before she’d ran around town for one reason or another. It was also very convenient after a long day full of exercise and emotional exertion. But it wasn’t convenient that Granny’s had been closed for the last forty minutes, because Emma really wanted some salty, greasy fries. And maybe a grilled cheese or even a fatty burger.

Even if she wanted to go home, back to the apartment—which she didn’t—they had no comfort food there and Emma desperately needed some. She hadn’t heard from or seen Regina in much too long to feel confident that the other woman was fine. And the more she worried about Regina’s safety, the more she was reminded that Regina hadn’t thought of the plan to start working with the villains after all. Her parents had told her that Regina _agreed_ to do it. While Emma knew Regina made her own decisions, if it wasn’t for her parents Regina never would have been in danger with the villains in the first place.

No, there was no way she was going back to the apartment. Henry was there and she trusted that while she was angry with her parents, he was still safe with them. She took a deep breath and made her decision as she turned on her car and peeled away from the curb.

She drove to the one place in all of Storybrooke that gave her even the smallest sense of comfort. Even after she was put under a sleeping curse, it felt like she hadn’t slept in days. But there was one place she knew, even if she didn’t want to fall asleep, where she could get some rest.

She parked in Regina’s driveway behind the black Mercedes and went up to the front door like she lived there. She was at ease with the notion of breaking into Regina’s house for the second time in a week and then crashing there. It should have confused or at least worried her, but it didn’t. The only thing that unsettled Emma in that moment was how long she’d gone without a word from the brunette.

Emma stood on the porch for a moment and took a deep breath. She didn’t have a hair pin to pick the lock with that time. She didn’t have anything that would get her into the house without busting a window. But she did have magic. She wasn’t sure how to use her magic to break in, but she was curious to find out what it took.

She steadied herself and held out her hands above the door handle. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

_Breathe in and out, in and out, and focus._

She opened her eyes and looked down at the handle from the space between her hands before she relaxed a little and then watched as white light shot out from her hands and into the lock. Then she heard the lock click into place and smiled.

She grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, proud of her success. If only Regina could have shared in the victory with her.

Emma’s smile disappeared and she puffed out a heavy sigh, unsatisfied and weighed down yet again by the uncertainty of Regina’s health and safety.

She shut the door behind herself and locked it. She didn’t even bother to go upstairs and find a bed, although she was sure Regina had at least one guest bedroom to spare. Instead, she made herself something to eat and settled in on the couch like she had the first time she’d slept in the mansion.

She turned on the TV and found something enjoyable enough to watch while she ate in the giant, empty house. When she was done eating, she took her plate to the sink and noticed hers and Henry’s plates from their prior stay were still in the sink. She frowned and started to clean them all properly before she set them aside to dry, including the dishes she’d used that night to satisfy her hunger.

It was obvious to Emma that Regina hadn’t used her house in days. It was odd, but somehow Emma knew to expect it. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong the more she thought about it.

Suddenly, Emma didn’t want to rest just then. She didn’t want to sleep if it meant more time wasted not helping Regina.

She settled back on the couch and decided that if she wasn’t going to continue to look for the Author, the least she could do was practice her magic. She had to be prepared in case she needed to face off against Maleficent, Gold, Cruella, and Ursula. They were a dream team of villains and even though Savior magic was supposed to be powerful, shecouldn’t overpower the villainsif she still didn’t know how to utilize it.

She sighed and laid back, ready for sleep to overcome her as she started to make her hands glow. She built up the white spark and released it in a quick and shortly traveled burst of magical energy directed at the ceiling. She did it a couple more times and each time tried to be faster with the build-up. Before she could get too bored doing only one thing, she tried to make a fireball.

She’d only ever experimented with fire once and that was in Neverland with Regina. She’d only lit a bunch of logs to keep the group warm overnight and she hadn’t even known she was accessing her magic until it was done, but she’d never actually tried to control the heat in her hands like Regina could. It seemed fitting to practice Regina’s magical weapon of choice in the mansion so she concentrated a little harder and let her anger about recent revelations overwhelm her. She channeled it into the open palm of one of her hands while she brought her other hand behind her head on the pillow.

Slowly, she created a small flame that eventually expanded in a decent sized fireball. It was nothing in comparison to Regina’s, but Emma was confident that kind of skill came from more than just a single night of practice.

She watched as the flames burned brighter and a little higher before she finally decided to expel the fireball, release it from her hand and watch it go. As soon as she shot it out of her hand, she missed the light from the flame that had actually started to calm her. She was quickly brought back to reality and didn’t have a lot of time to miss anything when she noticed she’d used a little too much force when she let go of the fireball.

Above her, Emma saw the flames die out and leave a circular scorch mark on Regina’s pristine ceiling. Her eyes widened with guilt and she tensed her jaw while she ground her teeth out of stress for fear of Regina finding out what she’d done.

Emma wasn’t sure how to cover up or remove the mark and she hoped she would be out of the house long before Regina realized the newly charred part of the ceiling was her addition to the place. With that in mind, she avoided any magic that involved fire or anger. She tried to find emotions within herself that would be less harmful to the mansion, but would still distract her from the fact that Regina wasn’t there and hadn’t been for who knew how long.

She started to poof small objects around the room and then moved on to bigger objects and what some of them contained, like end table in the foyer and the china cabinet in the dining room. She was careful to remove all the wine glasses one, or sometimes even two, at a time before she made the cabinet reappear in the living room just to further exercise her magic and her body.

It wasn’t long before she finally drained herself of all the energy she had left for the day. Her eyes started to droop and her arm went limp over the side of the couch while everything she’d misplaced during her magic practice remained in all the wrong places within the house. She was too tired to do anything about it and definitely too tired to care.

Maybe when she woke up, it would be to an outraged Regina who had come home to find everything a mess. The yelling would make it a loud and unpleasant wake up call, but at least she’d finally see Regina again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! There's a semi-short but not too light or pleasant torture scene in this chapter. Proceed with caution.

Regina felt groggy as she slowly started to wake. Sounds faded in while she struggled to open her eyes, the backs of her eyelids too addicting a sight to make disappear so soon. She groaned and carefully tried to sit up. Her body ached and protested, but she managed to rest most of her weight on one of her outer thighs with her back and side no longer pressed against the hard floor.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair to pull it away from her eyes. She squinted and blinked several times as she adjusted to the dim, but still brighter than when she was unconscious, lighting in what was apparently her vault. She let out a small moan and turned her head from side to side to look around and take in what or who surrounded her. Even the slightest movements made her eyes hurt, her head not in the best shape after such a long sleep. Or at least she assumed she'd been asleep for a while. It certainly felt like it.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I was starting to think Maleficent had used too much of that sleeping spell on you and I'd have to wait at least another day before I could talk to you."

Regina took a deep breath and tried to relax as her vision and hearing improved, her body and her mind slowly but surely fully waking up. When she was coherent enough to look up, she saw Rumple perched on the edge of a bench across from her with his hands on either knee.

She looked down again in an instant, defeated. She was still tired and she definitely didn't like being alone in her vault with Rumple, especially after she blew her cover with the entire group of villains. She shifted to make her position on the ground a little more bearable and as she moved, she realized for the first time that there was a pressure on both of her wrists and her hands had limited movement. She furrowed her brow and looked down.

They weren't exactly handcuffs, but they functioned the same way. Her wrists were bound by bulky and heavily restrictive metal cuffs. As she attempted to break out of them by force and then by magic, she quickly found it to be a pointless effort.

"Oh, there's no use in trying to free yourself, dearie," Rumple told her and stood up. "Those particular cuffs do more than confine hand movements. They prevent any outward use of magic. Think of it like a dam and your magic...is the water it holds back."

The only reason he had to not only bind her but her magic as well was if he had something planned, something she definitely wouldn't like.

"I'm going to give you a couple of options and you'll need to make your choice fast," he explained. "Because...if you don't choose at all, well, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. The kind your mother was always good at teaching you."

Regina gulped.

“What about everything you said to me,” she asked. “You wanted me to find my happiness.”

"That’s true. Just not at my expense. See, the affection I have you…is limited."

“What happened to you?”

“I lost everything. Just like you will if you don’t do as I say.”

Regina tried not to let her fear and panic show, which she was mostly successful at doing. Rumple knew her too well, however, and he grinned as he saw right through her mask of indifference.

"I can guarantee you it'll hurt more if you don't cooperate," he said.

"What do you want?"

"It's simple, really. I assume you're not over Robin Hood, correct?"

Regina didn't supply him with an answer. She only continued to glare up at him as he then towered over her with a smug smirk stretched across his face.

“Well,” Rumple started to say again, a smug grin stretched across his face. “I just so happen to have a way to contact him.”

Regina’s eyes widened a little more. She had only asked Emma to find a number for Robin a day ago. Unless…unless she’d been asleep longer than that.

“I see I have your attention,” he practically purred. “Good.”

“What did you do,” she growled out her question.

Rumple laughed.

 “Nothing, dearie. I simply know more about his current situation than you do. See, while I was in New York recruiting Ursula and Cruella, I found myself in a bit of a predicament. Along the way I ran into Robin…and an old friend of ours. The rest I’ll let you hear for yourself.”

Regina was tense and hopeful at the same time. Rumple already had her in the palm of his hands and he hadn't even laid out her choices yet. She was sure he had counted on her to want to do whatever he said just to avoid the alternative as soon as possible and she hated herself for being so easily possessed by him yet again.

Rumple's smirk spread further and he leaned over her.

"May I," he asked and reached out toward her jacket pockets.

She stared up at him, confused as to what exactly it was he wanted from her.

"Your phone?"

Realization dawned on her and she said, "Right pocket."

Rumple slipped a hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone for her, the cuffs still secured around her wrists.

"I'll only release you from those," he explained and motioned to the cuffs as he began to dial, "if you cooperate. You can prove that _after_ the phone call…when you make your decision."

His grin was impossibly wicked and as he handed over the phone while it rang, there was an unpleasant gleam in his eyes that caused Regina immense discomfort.

She waited with baited breath as the phone continued to ring. For a while there was no answer and Rumple looked delighted by her struggle. She hoped he would one day die a slow and painful death for all the pain, grief, and frustration he had caused, and still continued to cause, her.

Finally, someone picked up on the other end of the call.

“Robin?” She was filled with joy and relief to have reached him, but after a second or two without a response from him she started to lose the temporarily restored hope that everything was okay.

“No, it’s not Robin,” a woman replied after a moment.

“Marian?”

“Not exactly.”

Regina furrowed her brow and frowned. Before she could ask what the other woman meant, a second voice came over the line.

“Hello, Sis.”

Regina’s heart sank before she allowed fear and anger to well up inside of her.

“Zelena. But how? I saw you die.”

“You _thought_ you saw me die,” she answered.

“Where’s Robin? What have you done with him?”

“I haven’t done anything except love and honor him, in sickness and in health. To have and to hold and all that other wifely nonsense.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to. All you need to know is your precious Robin thinks it’s his wide-eyed wife cooking dinner for him every night when it’s actually me.”

Regina shook her head, shock written clearly across her face as she stared ahead at the wall of her vault across from where she sat.

“Oh, I’ve got to run, Sis. He’ll be home any minute and I’ve got a meatloaf in the oven.”

Before she knew it, before she could even believe half of what she’d heard, the call ended and Regina was left with so many questions and an upset stomach.

Regina brought the phone down into her lap and mindlessly, carelessly, pressed the ‘end’ button on the keypad. She looked up at Rumple, who was still as smug as ever, and glared at him after she took a moment to process what she’d just learned and then collected herself again.

“You. Knew,” she slowly said through gritted teeth.

“And that’s why you’ll do everything I ask,” he disregarded what she’d said and made his point more obvious in case her conversation with Zelena hadn’t done just that. “Because one phone call from me and your beloved dies at the hands of your sister.”

“She _murdered_ your _son_!”

“Zelena and I have…an understanding. And now you and I have an understanding as well. Regina, you’re vital to my plan to turn the Savior towards darkness.”

“ _You_ made me into a monster, but I won’t let you do the same to Emma.”

Rumple reached over and plucked the phone out of her hand.

“So you’ve made your choice, have you? You’re choosing the Savior over your beloved Robin Hood? Is that your final answer?”

Regina tried, tried so very hard, not to cry in front of him. Her eyes watered and she was seconds away from an outpour of tears. She’d been given a difficult and fairly impossible decision: her soulmate or her son’s other mother. When she was the Evil Queen, her choice might have been easier. She would have chosen the person that made her happy, but even as she thought about it that way she wasn’t really sure which blonde thief made her happier.

“I can see you’re conflicted,” Rumple cut through her thoughts. “This is when my affection for you isn’t quite as limited. The choice you have to make…isn’t one to be made lightly. I’ll check back on you in the morning. If you don’t have an answer for me by then, well, something’s got to give.”

With that threat in the air, he left her alone in her vault and refused to uncuff her before he made his exit. On his way to the stairs, he carelessly waved a hand and dark red magic shot up from floor to ceiling. It shimmered before it disappeared and Regina knew from experience that she was trapped inside her own vault by way of a barrier.

Once she was alone, she sighed and leaned back. Softly, she thudded her head against the wall behind her and closed her eyes. She then hoped she would figure out a solution that wouldn’t cost either Roland or Henry a parent.

* * *

Cruella stared up at the ceiling while she lay beside Ursula on their shared bed at Granny’s. They would have been kicked out of the bed and breakfast already if it wasn’t for the threat they posed to all the do-gooders in town, including the woman that ran the establishment they resided in during their stay. When they’d returned to the B&B from Regina’s vault, the elder woman looked like she wanted to say something to them and yet the words never came. With a couple of glares directed her way, she and Ursula were able to walk through the diner and head up to their room without argument or refusal. Their triumph satisfied Cruella to the point of a grin and chuckle and she suggested they celebrate with the bottles of gin and vodka she’d swiped from behind the counter several days ago when they had their little initiation night for Regina.

Ursula looked anything but satisfied. She moped around the room for a short while before she decided she just wanted to sleep. Cruella still wanted a drink so she had a few glasses, but she didn’t enjoy them when she saw how dejected the other woman was even after a victory, even if that victory had been very miniscule.

After a few minutes, Cruella abandoned the liquor and turned out the lights before she joined Ursula in the bed. She didn’t say a single word to the woman who was on her side, her back to Cruella’s half of the bed, but she wasn’t sure that there was anything she could say to help Ursula. She did have a few questions, however, so the least she could do while Ursula was in her mood was to get some answers.

She sighed and hesitated a moment before she turned her head to look at the back of Ursula’s and then got right to the point.

“What’s been going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

Ursula kept her back to her and didn’t even flinch when Cruella’s voice broke through the tense silence that previously filled the room. She was completely rigid where she lay.

“Ever since that pesky Savior made it abundantly clear she didn’t want anything to happen to Regina, you’ve been…off.”

Ursula took a deep breath and released it with a heavy sigh.

“I don’t feel well. That’s all.”

“No, that’s not all. First, you let the Savior run off with our prized puppet and then you tell me maybe she has it right to be so protective of Regina? I’m starting to wonder where your loyalty lies.”

That got Ursula to roll over and face her, and she wasn’t pleased with the assumptions that had been made.

“My loyalty is to _you_. It has been for some time.”

“Please,” Cruella rolled her eyes with a smirk, disbelief evident in her tone and her expression.

Ursula huffed and sat up.

“If you doubt that then clearly I’m not the person you think I am.”

Cruella frowned and deduced, “I’ve upset you.”

“You think?”

“I’m sorry, I just… You would leave me the second you got your voice back. …Wouldn’t you?”

Ursula scoffed and looked completely pissed and wounded all at the same time.

“I can’t believe you have to ask me that.”

“Ursula—”

“No, let me be clear. We’ve been in this, together, for too many years. You may not have chosen me over someone who offered you a life of comfort in this world, but you certainly never left my side when things got rough in the Enchanted Forest.

“We didn’t even know each other then, but you understood what it was like to have something taken from you like my singing voice was taken from me. You’d lost something, I’d lost something, and of course Maleficent lost something. It’s how we’ve been able to work well together. But with you, Cruella, it’s always been different. There’s always been a deeper connection. Maybe it’s because we’ve both lost our mothers and would give anything to have them back, but…”

Cruella winced. She’d lied to Rumple, and therefore had lied to Maleficent and Ursula as well. Everyone thought she wanted to make amends with her mother, but that wasn’t possible anymore. A lot of things weren’t possible for her anymore. But as she watched Ursula get worked up—poor, unfortunate Ursula—she felt something stir within her. She felt a different kind of need, one she’d never felt before except with Ursula, which she hadn’t really realized was a thing until just then—rise within her. She felt the need to fix things between them, the need to comfort Ursula instead of hurt her.

“I’m sorry.” Her sincerity surprised both women and even in the dark room, Cruella still noticed the way Ursula’s eyes softened and her lips parted.

Cruella reached out and brushed her hand along the side of Ursula’s face from her cheekbone to her jawline. She traced Ursula’s jawline down to her chin with only her index and middle finger and gently tipped back Ursula’s head.

“Chin up, darling,” Cruella quietly said before she slowly started to smile. “I’m not pushing you away again.”

Ursula’s bottom lip trembled and tears shined in her eyes as they prepared to fall and stain her warm, soft cheeks.

“Is that a promise,” Ursula asked and her voice broke on the last word.

Cruella’s smile spread and she leaned forward as she propped herself up on one of her elbows.

“The first I’ve ever made in my life. So you better appreciate it.”

Ursula chuckled and Cruella closed the space between them to kiss away all of Ursula’s doubts.

They were completely different people with different desires, but Cruella realized in that moment of vulnerability and intimacy that she was attached. For years, she’d enjoyed screams and hot crimson as it seeped onto marble or rug like a fine paint on a perfectly lifeless canvas. She’d enjoyed nothing more than being the last thing a person saw before the end and was riveted by the dead stare she was met with after their final breath. It was morbid and thrilling and definitely not the kind of thing Ursula reveled in or dreamed about.

After she’d lost the thing that would allow her to enjoy such moments, she did everything she could with Maleficent and Ursula to find a way to get back the ability she’d been robbed of all that time ago. It was the only reason she’d agreed to help Rumple and Ursula in the first place when they came to her in Long Island. But her drive, her need to have that ability back, didn’t seem as important as what she already had. It didn’t seem as important as what was right in front of her. Maybe that was her happy ending. Maybe she wouldn’t have to force anything at all and she could finally rid herself of that endless hunger she once had and never once asked for.

“Damn Savior,” she muttered with a hint of a laugh when they ended the kiss.

“I _know_ you aren’t thinking about that skinny blonde right now,” Ursula said with a scolding finger pointed at her.

“It’s not like that, darling.”

“Mhmm. So how is it really?”

“Maybe she has it right,” Cruella beamed as she repeated Ursula’s words from earlier back to the other woman.

* * *

She was awake long before she heard his feet shuffle down the stairs that went from the mausoleum and into her vault. Regina was ready for him, but she wasn’t sure what to expect. Rumple had several ways of dealing with her when she defied him so it was pointless to try to figure out the first step he’d take to make her do his bidding.

“Did you sleep well, dearie,” he asked as he rounded the corner and came to stand in front of her.

She glared at him in response, her jaw firmly set and her teeth painfully clamped down against each other.

He breathed out a small, quiet laugh.

“Then I suppose you have an answer for me.”

She remained silent and still where she sat, her cuffed hands limp in her lap.

“Oh, so…you _don’t_ have an answer,” he stated instead of asked. “Well then I suppose there won’t be any use telling you good morning, because it isn’t going to be good for you.”

He flicked his wrist and hers started to burn every inch of skin the magic cuffs encircled. She clenched her fists and hissed, her eyes scrunched almost completely shut as the burning started to increase the longer Rumple drew out the torture.

“I can make this really easy for you, Regina,” he said as she felt her skin bubble beneath the heated metal. “You don’t have to suffer and neither does Robin. All _you_ have to do is give Emma a little nudge in the wrong direction.”

She cried out in agony, but didn’t say a single word. A moment passed and the cuffs cooled down. She sighed with relief as she felt the burning sensation lessen, though she knew there were still burn marks left on both of her wrists. She slowly unclenched her fists and her fingers shook as they uncurled, her palms marked with crescents from the pressure of her nails.

“What’ll it be, Regina,” he asked. “Or rather… _who_.”

“I won’t let you hurt them,” she insisted.

Rumple chuckled.

“And just how do you plan to stop me?”

He pulled her phone out of his pocket and started to dial.

“Robin will be dead within the hour, Roland will be an orphan, and while you’re an important part of my plan for the Savior, she can still be swayed without your help. It would just be more convenient for me if you helped.”

“If you so much as lay a hand on either of them—”

“Oh, well, that’s the beauty of all this, isn’t it? I don’t have to even be _near_ them, but both of them will be ruined. Only one of them needs to be sacrificed, however. It all comes down to who you think matters more.”

Rumple either took way too much pleasure in knowing the extent of what he was really asking her or he had no idea what kind of affect her choice would truly have once it was made. Either way, he was insane and for the first time since their return from Neverland she actually wished he’d stayed dead when he’d killed himself and his father with a single stab of his dagger.

“Tick tock,” he said, and in that moment he reminded her more like the sparkly golden imp he was when she’d first met him.

Suddenly, it dawned on Regina that Rumple had said Roland would be an orphan. She knew Zelena was with Robin, but then where did that leave Marian? Dread pooled low in her gut and she knew nothing she said or did was going to help or fix the mess Rumple had just presented her with. He was right. Something had to give.

She lunged at him and crashed into his waist. She tackled him into the far wall and punched him with both fists even as they remained badly burned and restrained. She hit him in the ribs and twisted slightly in front of him before she elbowed him in the gut.

During their struggle, he dropped the phone and then scrambled to grab either her shoulders or part of her clothes. He gripped at anything he could potentially grasp and failed to tighten his hands on a single thing as she continued to wriggle again and again to land a few more blows to his chest and stomach.

She stomped on his toes through his shoes and kneed him in the groin. He bent over at the waist and groaned before he charged at her and wrapped his arms around her hips. He pushed her onto the ground as he fell forward and in a hard exhale she lost all the air in her lungs.

He untangled his arms from the space between her and the ground and hurried to pin her in place as he roughly closed his hands around her forearms and yanked her arms above her head. It was the most physical he’d ever been with anyone as far as Regina knew. Normally, he used his magic to dominate someone in a fight, but she wondered if maybe the knee to his groin had leveled the playing field a little bit.

It didn’t matter, though, because he was still on top of her and still had his magic. That much was obvious when she felt her throat constrict at the same time he still had his hands coiled around her arms as he pressed them harshly against the cold ground.

She gasped and squirmed relentlessly beneath him. Each of her attempts were unsuccessful as she lost more and more oxygen. Her arms ached with the force Rumple applied to them while the burns on her wrists stung out of agitation.

“Do _not_ test me,” he barked and watched her with an intense stare as she writhed around under his weight.

She stared up him, her brown eyes blown wide open as she choked and garbled, and didn’t have the strength to mask her fear. Seconds later, her vision started to blur and darken and just before she felt herself losing consciousness, the pressure around her throat and arms vanished.

Air rushed back into her lungs and immediately, she coughed and rolled onto her side. She used her bruised arms to pull herself away from Rumple while she continued to cough and wheeze as she struggled to regulate her breathing. She looked over her shoulder as she crawled away from him, her eyes still wide with fear but also incredulity.

Rumple stood where Regina’s heels scraped against the ground during their struggle. He was composed except for the stern and vengeful glint in his dark eyes.

“I’m giving you one more chance to make this right,” he told her and picked up the phone. “Next time I come down here and don’t get an answer, _I’ll_ decide for you.”

Tears streamed down her face as she reached the opposite wall and curled up against it. She brought her knees to her chest and clawed at the cement to hold her upright as her entire body shook as an after effect of strangulation.

He took her phone with him on his way out and when he passed through the barrier he’d made, it flared dark red before he left her alone again.

When she was sure he was gone, she sobbed and let out a strained cry. Her vocal chords were stiff and her voice, even as a whimper, was raspier than usual. Her body went through several stages of shock as she tried her best to recover from Rumple’s attack, which she had started and truthfully brought on herself. But it had bought her more time to protect the people she cared about. The problem was, she wasn’t sure how to reach out to them to warn them.

* * *

She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, unsure of how much time had passed. She took deep breaths and tried not to think about how Rumple had looked as he'd towered over her, his hands on her arms and his magic squeezed around her neck. She had never known him to use his bare hands to hurt her or anyone else before. It was always with magic or his cane or he got someone else to do his dirty work for him, someone like whoever it was he was punishing. Often times he liked to use those people and their weaknesses against them.

Instead, she'd provoked him to the point of strangulation and that was certainly a game her mother preferred. It was also one of the ways she took after her mother. She recalled a time when she was still at odds with Emma and the Charmings and had tried to choke the life out of the blonde in the pawn shop. She then remembered Emma threatening her with a somewhat dull object to her throat in the hopes that Cora would pick Regina's safety over Rumpelstiltskin's dagger.

Regina closed her eyes for a moment and did her best to relax. It was the only way she could get any thinking done and she had to work through how she was going to proceed with Rumple. He'd given her an ultimatum: help turn Emma dark or let Robin Hood die. She was one of the good guys, had been for a while it seemed, and she'd rather suffer in place of either Robin or Emma. That much was already proven when she allowed Rumple to abuse her instead of supplying him with an answer.

She heard a sound come from the mausoleum. It was quiet like foot kicking a pebble across the cement, but it was troubling like Rumple's return. When Regina saw a familiar blonde step into the vault, she sagged with relief and noted it was thankfully the quiet sound of a kicked pebble and not the man that would soon fuel her nightmares.

"Maleficent," Regina said her name in an exhale.

The other woman gave her a brief inspection and frowned as she eyed Regina with sympathy and a hint of disapproval.

“Look what he’s done to you,” Maleficent said and slowly but gracefully moved toward her.

“I pushed him,” Regina flatly explained.

Maleficent shook her head and lowered herself onto the ground next to her.

“Don’t make excuses for him.”

Regina sighed. She really hadn’t meant to do that, but it was the truth. She had pushed him, physically and emotionally.

“Let me see,” Maleficent gently commanded and took Regina’s cuffed hands in hers.

Regina swallowed and then cringed at the pain it caused. Maleficent immediately noticed and kept one hand on Regina’s wrists while the other went to her neck.

Maleficent carefully brushed back Regina’s hair and checked out the purpling bruise around Regina’s neck. She stroked her thumb over Regina’s jaw while her fingers grazed the sensitive skin on the side and back of her neck.

Regina instantly shut her eyes and hissed. Even the feather-light contact was too much.

“Why must you make everything harder than it needs to be,” Maleficent asked.

“I thought you didn’t want me to make excuses for him?”

“I don’t. My question has nothing to do with what he did to you. But I’m curious to know why it is you always come to me like this.”

“I didn’t come to you this time. You came to _me_.”

“Regardless, you were always like this every time we saw each other. Until you got rid of your mother. And then Leopold. Either you attract the worst kind of people or you’re purposely putting yourself in these positions again and again. Haven’t you had enough?”

Regina scoffed and leaned back, her neck further exposed as her head tipped back while she rested it against the wall.

“You should let me heal you,” Maleficent decided to change the subject.

Regina shook her head and swallowed, and again winced in response, before she opened her eyes and looked at Maleficent again.

“No, not what he can see. If he knows someone other than him came to see me, it’ll be worse.”

“Stubborn as always. But you have a point. Is there anything I _can_ heal?”

Regina nodded and shifted her hands in Maleficent’s grasp.

“Beneath the cuffs,” she said.

Maleficent furrowed her brow and tried to see the damage under the metal. She didn’t see much of anything except for Regina’s olive-toned skin.

“What’s the problem there?”

“He burned me.”

Maleficent’s head snapped up and her eyes flew from Regina’s wrists to her eyes. Their gazes locked and the blonde looked shocked and appalled.

“I’ll show him what it feels like to be burned,” Maleficent growled. “The next time I see him he’s going to get a taste of the dragon.”

Regina chuckled and calmed down a little. After a moment, she quieted down and questioningly stared at Maleficent.

“Why are you helping me?”

“I always help you.”

“You’re the one that knocked me out and left me defenseless against him.”

“You know there’s only so much I can do, dear.”

Maleficent ran a hand along the cool metal of the cuffs and soon after her fingertips left the binding material, the cuffs popped open to reveal the bright red burns.

Maleficent cringed and Regina tried not to freak out. It looked awful and much more painful than it felt in that moment. But that wasn’t to say it wasn’t still painful at all, because it was. She just had a way of compartmentalizing the pain after so many years of abuse.

With the cuffs temporarily removed, Regina felt like she could breathe again. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Maleficent’s fingers gently touched the rough, hot skin that felt a thousand times hotter than any other part of her body. A few seconds later, she felt overwhelming cool relief.

Regina whimpered and let her arms fall carelessly into her own lap.

A smile took its time forming on Maleficent’s lips and she continued to skate her fingers across Regina’s skin while she healed it.

“I haven’t heard you do that in a while,” Maleficent teased.

“You haven’t done anything to deserve hearing it in a while,” Regina quipped.

“Well, maybe I’d give you a reason to if it wasn’t for the gallant Savior constantly at your doorstep.”

Regina furrowed her brow.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been watching her lately. She paws around you, and now your house, like a puppy looking for a permanent home.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“Last I saw her she was walking into your house, again, like she lives there.”

“What?”

Regina knew in a heartbeat that Maleficent saw her surprise, but didn’t notice any confusion. Because Regina wasn’t confused at all. As much as she hadn’t expected Emma to waltz into her home, and even further into her life, she also _had_ expected it.

Maleficent’s smile turned into a pleased and knowing smirk.

“It isn’t odd behavior for her to follow you around even when you’re not there, is it,” Maleficent rhetorically asked.

Regina gasped as Maleficent finished the healing spell and she felt her skin become fully rejuvenated. It was the greatest relief she’d felt in days.

“Interesting,” Maleficent thought out loud. “You just found out she’s in your home, still is the last time I checked in, and yet you aren’t even the slightest bit upset. I really was right about you two.”

“What do you mean by that? Right about what?”

Maleficent shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it,” the blonde dismissed her questions and then switched gears. “You owe me one, dear.”

Maleficent put the cuffs back on Regina and caught her gaze a moment later.

“Is there something you have in mind?”

“Yes, actually. But you know me. I’m a woman who always knows what she wants.”

“Indeed,” she agreed. “What can I help you with?”

“My daughter.”

“I’m not sure I understand. How can I help you with that?”

Regina motioned with her recently healed and re-cuffed hands to elaborate.

“You might not be able to help me now, but whenever you decide to give Rumple what he wants—”

“I can’t do that,” Regina cut her off.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s asking me to choose.”

“Choose what?”

“Either I let Rumple manipulate Emma like he manipulated me, or Robin dies.”

“And those are your only choices?”

“Of course they are. I’m surprised he’s even keeping me around this long to make that decision when he could easily—”

“Kill Robin and turn Emma dark without your input.”

“Exactly.”

“So ask yourself why it is he’s making you choose.”

“Because he wants to punish me.”

“I thought that’s what the torture was all about.”

“You know Rumple. Inner-turmoil is the best kind of pain he can inflict on anyone.”

Maleficent laughed even though it wasn’t really a humorous moment.

“Yes, well, he’s devious like that. So you have choice to make. If you give him one, he’ll let you go?”

“If I give him _Emma_ he’ll let me go.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

Regina balked and said, “You can’t be serious.”

“Just because you make a decision doesn’t mean you have to stick with it. Does it?”

Regina thought about it for a moment before she lit up with realization. But then came the complication.

“Even if I do that, what’s to stop him from coming after me or Robin?”

“You really have gone soft. Leverage, Regina. Find something he wants or cares about and use it against him.”

Regina pleadingly looked into Maleficent’s blue eyes.

“Will you help me,” she softly asked.

Maleficent brushed her fingers through wisps of her hair and moved in a little closer.

“Don’t I always?”

She felt Maleficent’s breath on her mouth and it brought Regina’s attention to Maleficent’s faintly red lips. The blonde moved in again and placed a hand on her hip. Her eyes fluttered closed and their noses grazed a second before Maleficent rested their foreheads against each other.

“But I need your help too, remember? I need to find my daughter. She’s out there somewhere. She came to this world around thirty years ago and I’m hoping she’s still alive.”

“You want _me_ to find her,” Regina concluded.

“Can you?”

“I might not,” Regina said, and immediately watched Maleficent’s face fall. “But I know someone who might.”

Maleficent stared at her for a long moment. Then she was overcome with realization.

“Emma,” Maleficent finished the thought for her.

* * *

Emma woke up better rested than she had been in the past week, but she still wasn’t well rested. Her body hadn’t slept enough for her to have fully recovered from her magic practice the night before and as soon as she was coherent, she was disappointed because Regina still wasn’t there. The only thing aside from herself that was there that morning was the scorch mark she’d accidentally made on the ceiling.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was a little greasy and moderately tangled. She needed a shower, but in order to do that she had to go home and face her parents. That was the last place she wanted to be and the last thing she wanted to do. She still needed to find the Author before Gold, which meant she’d have to talk to her parents anyway since they knew the guy from their past, but she wanted to do what she could to see if she could hopefully find him without their help. She really didn’t want it because it meant she’d have to actually talk to them and they would try to apologize in their own selfish ways all over again. They’d still claim they were heroes and then she would lose it again.

Regina needed her. She knew it, especially when she considered how long it had been since she last saw the other woman. She gave it a little more thought and wondered if the Author should have even been her first priority. Regina had been gone too long and by that point so had the Author. Gold could have already had him stashed away in the cabin where they kept August. It was definitely the first place she wanted to look for him, but she wasn’t sure that was where she needed to be.

Where she needed to be in the immediate future was under some hot water with shampoo in her hair and soap spread all over her body. Of course, her hygiene wasn’t dire when she continually had a sinking feeling Regina was in trouble. The other woman’s cover was most likely blown if she hadn’t even been able to so much as text Emma to let her know everything was fine, or at least to share the next step in their plan to throw a wrench into Gold’s.

She checked her phone. No new messages or missed calls. At least none from Regina. There was a message from Henry that said, _“I hope you’re okay.”_

She replied _, “I will be”_ and then checked the time. It was still pretty early. If she took a quick shower, there was still a chance she could be clean and still find Regina or the Author before it was too late.

But she really didn’t want to go home.

Of course, Emma was already in a house and she was certain it had more than at least two full bathrooms. Upon further inspection, she was right. She counted four on her way upstairs, but she hadn’t even gone into the basement and there was still a stretch of hallway past Henry’s room she hadn’t checked. Out of the four bathrooms she had seen, three of them were full baths. One of them was the master bath inside Regina’s room, which she didn’t dare enter. She just knew when she opened the bedroom door that it was in there somewhere. The other full bath on the second floor was between Henry’s bedroom and one of the two guest rooms. The third full bath she’d spotted on her half-assed, self-given tour through the mansion was on the first floor near the kitchen. So she had options, and a lot of them didn’t even involve leaving Regina’s house let alone seeing her parents.

Already on the second floor, Emma decided to use the bathroom between Henry’s room and the guest room. She looked in the linen closet next to it for a clean towel and found five of them neatly folded and stacked on a shelf directly at Henry’s eye level. She grabbed one and tossed it onto the counter in the bathroom before she wondered what she was going to do about her clothes. She could magic herself an outfit, right? But she wasn’t really sure how that worked. She was also much better on her feet and when it had nothing to do with personal choices. It was all about action and saving the day, or at least saving the people she cared about.

She’d spent the night at Regina’s twice, walked into the mansion at least three or four times in the almost two years she’d known the brunette, and she’d never even been on the second floor until just then. She didn’t want to invade Regina’s personal space, but she realized that if she couldn’t poof clean clothes to the mansion there was only one other way showering at Regina’s was going to work. She had to borrow some clothes.

They shared a son. Why couldn’t they share clothes? It wasn’t like Emma hadn’t worn one of Regina’s shirts before, because she definitely had. Regina wasn’t too happy about it, but it had happened and they’d moved past it. She’d returned it, even had it dry cleaned because she knew if she hadn’t it would have been another reason why Regina wouldn’t trust her with Henry. She wanted to respect certain boundaries, though. Even when she and Regina hadn’t gotten along she’d mostly wanted to keep the peace if she could. For Henry’s sake. As she stood in Regina’s bedroom, however, it was about respecting her friend and her space and belongings.

But the more she stood around and thought about it, debated about whether or not it would be okay to just take a shirt and pants for the day, the more time she wasted. She wanted to take ten minutes in the shower and three of those minutes had already been spent staring at the other woman’s dresser like it contained the secrets of the world and she wasn’t sure she was ready to expose them.

She took a deep breath and released it in a short exhale before she crossed the room and pulled open a drawer. She wasn’t sure how badly she wanted to borrow clean underwear, but Regina had plenty of pairs in all different colors and styles. Lace, cotton, silk. Red, black, green. Thong, cheeky, low rise. Her bras, which were also in that drawer, had the same admirable variety. Suddenly, it was much hotter in Regina’s room than when Emma had first entered it.

She cleared her throat and closed the drawer. She’d worry about underwear later. She yanked open a couple more drawers and managed to find a black, long sleeve shirt and surprisingly, a pair of jeans she wouldn’t mind wearing. She took them into the bathroom with her and, out of habit, locked the door before she ran the shower.

In the time it took her to strip down, steam had started to collect in the room. She felt it in the air before she opened the clear shower door and stepped in. The water was warm and the pressure was nice. She sighed with relief, wet her hair, and then just stood under the water. She let herself relax and found comfort in the luxurious shower that was nothing at all like the one she was stuck with at the apartment. After a minute, she grabbed the Mountain Mist shampoo in the shower caddy to her right. She popped open the cap and smelled it. The scent reminded her of a grass field after a fresh, light rain. It wasn’t too strong and it wasn’t floral. She wasn’t big on flowers except for the tattoo on her wrist.

She squeezed out a good amount of shampoo and started to run it through her hair. She went about her usual shower routine and just as she turned to rinse out the matching Mountain Mist conditioner a few minutes later, she caught a glimpse of someone on the other side of the shower door.

Emma yelped and jumped back. Water washed the conditioner out of her hair and into her eyes.

“Holy shit!”

Maleficent stood in the middle of the bathroom with her eyes sharply trained on the blonde inside the shower.

“Ow! Fuck. What—” Emma tried to wipe the conditioner out of her eyes and then she remembered she was naked in front of the other woman.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and then thought better of it and dropped a hand to cover her below the waist while one arm remained stretched across her bare breasts.

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same question, dear,” Maleficent calmly purred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping I'll have more time and energy over the next couple of days to write the next chapter. I'm aiming to update this again by Saturday night, but no guarantees. Also, I know Cruella saying, "I'm not pushing you away again" is more of a parallel to Emma and Lily, but I'll explain/show how it connects to Emma and Regina in the next chapter. Thanks for reading along so far. And thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. Keep giving me feedback. It helps keep me motivated. :)


	8. Chapter 8

Emma gulped under Maleficent’s scrutiny. Piercing blue eyes sized her up and for a moment, Emma wondered if Regina learned that penetrating, judging stare from the other blonde. Maleficent had taught her how to project her voice. Why couldn’t it have been possible that Regina adopted that very specific and unique to the two of them “look” from Maleficent?

“She certainly knows how to pick her women,” Maleficent said, a little bitter by the sound of her voice.

“Seriously? What the hell?”

Emma closed her eyes and tipped her head back to rinse out the conditioner that still stung her eyes and impaired her vision. She exposed her chest to push her hair out of her face and then rubbed her hand over her eyes to clear the water and any excess conditioner she missed. She opened her eyes and covered her chest again, but as she moved her arm back into place she soon noticed Maleficent was much closer to the shower door than she was a minute ago.

The new proximity startled Emma again, but she didn’t yell or curse that time.

“Can I help you with something,” Emma asked after a moment.

Maleficent rolled her eyes and with a flick of her wrist, the shower stopped and the room filled with awkward silence.

“Regina told me you could.”

“Regina? Where is she? Is she okay?”

Emma stepped toward the shower door and pushed the door open in an instant with wide eyes full of hope, worry, and desperation to know absolutely everything.

Maleficent smirked. It was knowing and amused and her eyes glittered with the latter emotion.

“She’s been worse,” Maleficent answered and as she did, her amusement lessened. “She’ll survive.”

“If you hurt her—”

“I _healed_ her,” the other woman immediately corrected her.

“Healed? Like magically? What happened to her?”

“Nothing she can’t handle.”

“But something happened to her,” Emma stated instead of asked that time, confident that she had understood Maleficent perfectly.

“Yes.”

Emma’s hands fell away from her body, modesty completely forgotten, and stepped out of the shower, still dripping but free of conditioner.

Maleficent turned and grabbed the towel that hung on the rack to her right. She kindly and wordlessly handed it to Emma. Though Emma didn’t have the mental capacity to think about anything other than Regina, only Regina, she would have been thankful Maleficent didn’t take the opportunity to check her out again while she left herself open to easy ogling. She didn’t have the ability to appreciate the other blonde’s restraint, but she truly would have been if her mind and wildly beating heart weren’t solely focused on Regina.

Emma wrapped the towel around herself, finally covered again, and stared and stared and stared at Maleficent as if doing so would have either changed whatever happened to Regina or bring her to Regina.

“Where is she,” Emma asked again.

“It won’t matter soon. She’s working on getting herself out of there. She’ll be back before you know it. Now was she right? Can you help me?”

“What do you need?”

“I need to find my daughter.”

Emma nodded and asked, “What do you know about her?”

“She was banished to this world thirty years ago and she ended up in a place called Minnesota. The people who adopted her named her Lilith. That’s all the information I have.”

Emma gripped the towel with an iron fist and turned her knuckles white with the force she used to hold it.

“Is it possible,” Maleficent asked. “Is that enough for you to find her?”

Emma stood there silent and stunned for a moment. All she could do was tightly clutch her towel and blink.

“Ye-Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

Maleficent smiled, genuinely smiled, and looked relieved and hopeful. Emma swore she saw tears form in the other woman’s eyes.

Emma took in Maleficent’s expression for a moment and those blue eyes—so open and readable in that moment—pulled her out of her freak out.

“And Regina. You’re sure she’s okay?”

Maleficent lightly laughed and nodded.

“I’d tell you to take care of her, but I can see I don’t need to remind you.”

Emma looked at her with confusion, but Maleficent said nothing more on the subject. The other blonde didn’t even wait a full minute before she poofed out of the bathroom and left Emma to her thoughts, which quickly returned to who she thought Maleficent’s daughter was.

She scrambled to dress herself in her borrowed clothes, but made the decision to also borrow a pair of underwear after all. She figured Regina would have hated it more if she went commando in the brunette’s jeans. She picked a pair of red lace cheekies, even though a cotton bikini cut would have been more comfortable, and had to stifle a moan at the appealing and even more arousing feel of the material. It was surprisingly as comfortable as cotton in Emma’s opinion and it also served to rub her in all the right places at the very worst time. She had to track down Maleficent’s daughter, who could have very possibly been someone she knew years ago. Then a thought occurred to her. If the Author was the one her parents made that horrible deal with, maybe he would have known what became of Lilith. She also needed to get to him in the hopes that Gold didn’t find him first. If Gold had the Author in his back pocket, there was no telling what he could or would do.

Unfortunately, sending out a search party the Author hadn’t worked the first time so she’d have to go to her parents and berate them until they gave her more answers about him.

That proved to be very difficult, however. When she arrived at the apartment, her parents were relieved to see her again. It was all they wanted to focus on. That and Emma’s outfit.

“What are you wearing,” Snow asked as Emma walked further inside. “Are those- Are those _Regina’s_ clothes?”

Emma sighed, her hair still damp and curled from her shoulders down while she let it air dry.

“You stayed at her place again, didn’t you,” David asked without judgement. It was actually just a question and he didn’t seem to care one way or another if she had slept there. He only seemed to want to know where his daughter had been.

“Yeah, I stayed there again,” she answered.

“Emma—” Snow tried to say, but Emma wouldn’t let her talk.

“No. No more questions from you. It’s my turn to get some answers. You have to know some other way to find the Author. Think.”

“We’ve told you everything we know,” David told her.

“Are you sure about that, because secrets keep coming out.”

“Okay, you’re clearly still upset,” Snow said.

“Yes, I’m still upset. You were the ones who taught me there is always a right way, a heroic way, and after what you did to Maleficent’s child!”

“It was our only option to make sure you grew up good,” David argued with a near pleading tone.

“I’m sorry, but if it were me I would not _harm_ a defenseless person,” she yelled.

“And that right there, that goodness,” Snow smiled, “is exactly why we did what we did. It was worth it.”

The door opened and gave Emma a reprieve, but she didn’t realize how much of one until she turned and saw Regina walk past Hook and into the apartment. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Not Hook or her parents. Maleficent was right. And Regina was back. She was right there.

“Regina, where have you been,” Emma immediately asked, concerned even as she let out a sigh of relief to have Regina back.

“I’m in the middle of a very bad day. I’ll tell you the whole story later, _after_ I rescue Robin Hood.”

“Robin Hood? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Turns out Rumple has Robin’s number. I called and Marian answered. Except it wasn’t really Marian at all. I don’t know how it’s possible, but my sister has been masquerading as her this entire time. And she’s in league with Gold.”

“Well, we should...do something, right? We need to figure out how we’re gonna keep him safe.”

While Emma was more than willing to help Regina go after what she thought would make her happy, it also bothered her that Regina seemed so focused on Robin. To Emma, it seemed like a waste of time, but it was what Regina wanted and she would go to the ends of the Earth to give that woman what she wanted. She wasn’t sure why or when she’d first felt that way about the brunette, but she knew it was a lasting feeling. No matter how displeased with Robin Hood she was for hurting Regina with all their back and forth, it was about Regina and the thing she wanted most.

Regina looked a little stunned at what Emma said, but continued with what she had to say anyway.

“I already have a plan. I’m going to New York. I need to make sure he and Roland are as far away from Zelena as possible.”

“And what about Gold,” Hook asked. “If they’re working together he’s not going to just let you walk off and spoil his plans.”

“I think I have a solution to that problem,” Regina replied.

“Okay. Great. What’s the plan,” Emma asked.

“Leverage,” Regina answered.

“What are you thinking?”

“I need it and there’s still one thing in this world that will make Rumple back off if it’s in the wrong hands.”

“What can I do?”

“You can help Maleficent. She came to you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, but—”

“No,” Regina insisted. “She’s done a lot for me and I owe her. You worry about what she needs. Don’t worry about what I’m doing.”

Regina furrowed her brow and looked Emma over from head to toe a few times.

“Is that my shirt,” Regina asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Emma reluctantly answered.

“And my _jeans_?”

“Yep.”

“You really did walk into my home like you lived there. How did you even get in,” Regina asked.

“I, um, broke in?”

Regina look unimpressed and unamused.

“Emma,” Snow chided.

Emma bristled and grinded her jaw.

“What,” she snapped at her mother. “I couldn’t stay here. Where else was I supposed to go?”

Emma turned back to Regina and calmed down. She took a few steadying breaths before she spoke again.

“I’m really good at getting in,” she explained. “The door and windows aren’t busted. I just picked the lock. No harm done. Oh, uh…except for the thing in the living room.”

Regina’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline.

“What happened in the living room,” Regina slowly asked, impatient and curious and nervous to know the answer all at once.

“I was practicing with fire and…well, I kind of burned a hole in your ceiling.”

“A hole?”

“Just a small one. It’s really just a scorch mark. Nothing you can’t repaint.”

Regina blew out a sigh and closed her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head before she opened her eyes and let go.

“So you made fire,” Regina decided to ask, meltdown apparently averted. “All by yourself?”

“I made a fire _ball_ ,” Emma told her.

“And you shot it at my ceiling.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t supposed to go that far. I was gonna catch it. Like a baseball.”

“Baby steps,” Regina instructed.

“Wait, you’re not…upset,” Emma asked.

“Why would I be upset? You took the time, practiced your magic and were successful. I’m proud.”

“Really?” Emma lit up. Her face glowed and her smile spread almost from ear to ear.

“Yes, but now I need to get my leverage.” Regina turned and started to leave again, but looked over her shoulder when she reached the door. “Oh, and _you’ll_ be the one repainting the ceiling.”

* * *

The bell above the door jingled as she entered the pawn shop and to her surprise, it smelled better than usual. Before, it was stuffy and stale inside. The only scent came from the artifacts kept in the front room of the shop and all of them reeked of the Enchanted Forest. They came from all over the kingdom Regina had cursed and therefore they all carried different aromas from different environments.

That day, Regina was pleasantly surprised to find the air smelled fresher than it had in years. There was a candle burning on one of the shelves behind the counter and there was a slight draft Regina pinpointed from the back room, which was where Belle entered from with a furrowed brow and frown that quickly turned into a partial smile.

"Regina? What brings you here," the other woman asked.

"Your husband has done quite a number on me, Belle."

"I’m sorry to hear that."

Belle's smile disappeared in place of a confused look and Regina sighed as she leaned forward on the edge of the counter.

“And now he wants me to work with him,” Regina continued.

“Well, I’m sure that would be a mistake.”

“I know it is.”

Belle seemed to contemplate her options and then asked, “What can I do to help?”

Regina was surprised but pleased.

“I’m glad you asked. The thing is, this isn't a _small_ favor I need from you."

Regina's grin vanished and she instantly became serious. It was, after all, a serious subject.

"What is it?"

"Well...I need your heart."

Belle took a step back even though the countertop stood between them. Regina didn't blame her.

"Rumple...he's threatening to kill Robin Hood if I don't deliver Emma to him on a silver platter."

"What does he want with Emma?"

"He intends to turn her dark so he can get the Author to write the villains their happy endings."

Belle sadly frowned and stared down at the glass counter for a moment as she seemed to consider her options.

"What will you do with my heart if I let you have it?"

"Hold it over Rumple. I won't kill you, but I can't guarantee I won't hurt you. If he doesn't believe I'd actually crush it then using you as leverage will be pointless."

"And...if I don't give it to you?"

"Then I might not be able to leave town and get Robin away from the person who's there to kill him should I fail Rumple."'

Belle's blue eyes were big and soft and Regina saw that she really wanted to help, but she wasn't certain she wanted to hand over her heart to do it.

"I know this is difficult," Regina leveled with her. "And I wish I didn't have to ask. But I have nothing else. There isn't a thing left in this world that he'd relinquish control for, except you. I realize that you've forgiven me for all that I've done to you in the past, but I also understand that it's still hard for you to trust me because of that past."

Belle nodded and gulped. She took a deep breath and then said, "Do it."

Regina blinked several times, taken back by the woman's compliance.

"Really? You'd...let me have control over your heart?"

"If that's what it takes to make Rumple less of a threat."

Regina hesitated before she nodded her understanding that much had happened between Belle and Rumple. She wasn't sure how many times Rumple had let Belle down, but the woman that stood before her was stronger than ever and appeared to have changed a great amount since they last spoke. She was still smart and tough, but there was something else about her, too. Something Regina recognized from the mirror. A loss. It was almost undetectable to most, but she knew all too well that Belle had lost hope in someone she loved and had loved for a long time.

Belle walked around the counter and came to stand face to face with her while Regina slowly raised her right hand. She flexed her fingers as if she hadn't taken a heart in a while and was out of practice, which she sort of was a little rusty. She'd taken hearts in Neverland, held her own in her hands and entrusted it to the man she was trying to save from Rumple and Zelena, but she hadn't taken a heart since she went to another realm to save Henry. She hadn't squeezed a heart since then either. It wasn't a feeling she would forget. It was like riding a bike. She just had to make sure not to squeeze too hard.

She pressed her fingertips to Belle's chest over her shirt and kept it there for a moment. Belle's eyes found hers and the brown haired woman gasped as she waited and waited for Regina to make a move, to plunge her hand in her chest and yank her heart from her body.

Regina stared at Belle a moment longer, the eye contact a little too intense for her own comfort, and knew that Belle was trusting her. She was going to be responsible for the woman's heart. She'd have to keep it safe while also using it as weapon against the woman's most likely soon to be ex-husband. Stakes and emotions were high and Regina guessed a little discomfort was manageable in the long run. Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't already protecting someone else's heart as well.

"Are you sure you want me to do this," Regina asked to confirm just one more time before she went any further.

She applied a little more pressure to Belle's chest, her fingers ready to push past the other woman's shirt and dip into her skin.

Belle gasped again from what Regina could only assume was the added weight that at that point would have sent a tingle down her spine. She knew because she'd taken her own heart out of her chest more than any one should ever even consider.

Belle nodded again and Regina took a steadying breath before she pushed a little more and curled her fingers. Her hand disappeared in Belle's chest as she gently eased it in and within seconds, her fingers were coiled around a warm and fast-beating heart.

"There won't be pain, but it won't be the greatest feeling in the world," Regina warned her.

"Okay," Belle softly replied and accepted the next course of action to come.

Regina carefully tugged on her heart and separated it from Belle's blood flow.

Belle's eyes widened a little and she lurched toward Regina as she removed the woman's heart.

Regina wrapped an arm around Belle's back and caught her, held the other woman against her for a moment while she dealt with the new loss and its resulting effects.

"Whoa," Belle breathed out against Regina's shoulder.

"Are you okay," Regina asked as she pulled the heart away from between them.

"Mhmm," Belle said and slowly started to move away from her.

Belle's eyes immediately fell to the bright red heart she held at shoulder-length. Her shock was apparent.

"So...you can control what I do now?"

"And what you say. But you'll have free will whenever you're not around Rumple. I promise I won't abuse the power you've given me."

"Oh-okay. What...what are you going to do with it when you leave town?"

"It’ll stay on this side of the town line, but I’ll keep it safe and away from Rumple. When I get back, I'll put it back where it belongs. One last chance to back out, dear." Regina placed the heart in Belle's hands before she continued. "Tell me now, do you still want to do this? The choice is completely yours to make."

Belle sucked in a deep breath and nodded again.

"Yes. I trust you, Regina. I want to do this. I want to help."

Belle held out her heart to Regina and she took it and gently placed it in a velvet-lined box with a smile.

"Thank you," Regina said.

Belle smiled back and a minute later, the other woman was with her in the Benz along with Belle's heart tucked away in the box on her lap.

* * *

Belle called to him through the well in the woods where he brought back magic to Storybrooke and married her. Regina held the woman's heart in her hand and commanded Belle to say everything she spoke into the well to get Rumple's attention. After she'd needed Belle to repeat her request to meet Rumple there a few times, Regina wondered if the man would actually hear her reach out to him. Thankfully, she wasn't disappointed.

A minute later, red smoke swirled and then cleared to reveal Rumple who looked both relieved and concerned. There was a lot of that going around with all the villains on the loose in town. Regina held Belle's heart closer to her mouth and answered all of his questions as she watched from behind a nearby tree, close enough to hear Rumple but just far enough away to remain out of sight as long as she desired.

“Hello, Belle.”

“Hello.”

“This is a curious place to meet.”

“Do you…do you remember what you told me here the night of our vows? How I…chased the darkness out of you?”

“Belle, I’m sorry for everything,” he quickly tried to apologize.

Belle stepped forward and shook her head.

“No. No apologies today. For once in my life, I want the truth. Why are you here, Rumple? Are you trying to win me back or—”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he grimly answered.

He lifted a hand to his chest and hesitated a moment before he shoved it inside and removed his own heart.

“Rumple,” Belle breathed out and furrowed her brow at what she saw.

His heart was completely dark with only a small red glow in the middle as he held it up to her.

“It seems that centuries of dark deeds…do take a toll. And all that’s left of it…is this. And pretty soon, I’ll be gone, too.”

“Will…will you die?”

Belle’s facial reactions, while accurate from the other woman, came more directly from Regina as she spoke into the younger woman’s heart. Belle, if she hadn’t been forced to ask the questions Regina put in her mouth, still probably would have looked the same and asked all the same questions.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. I will lose any ability to love,” he explained. “And that goodness you once saw inside me…will be gone forever. There’s only one man that can reverse this process and that’s the Author. That’s why I’m here in Storybrooke.”

Heart thoroughly bare in front of Belle without the physical reminder that he still held it in front of her, he jammed it back into his chest.

“I don’t expect you to understand, of course,” he said and stared down at the ground.

“But I…I do understand.”

“You do?”

“Sometimes I worry…I worry I threw out the chipped tea cup too soon.”

Regina watched Rumple cry and fall into the arms of his beloved. She watched them kiss and felt a little guilty that she put Belle in such a position. From the woman’s determination to help Regina and hinder Rumple, she was sure Belle would have preferred not to kiss the man given his recent behavior that made her come to the decision everyone—herself included—was better off with him being anywhere but in town.

When they pulled apart, she at least did Belle a favor by pushing the man away with her cruel words.

“You know what the problem is, though,” Regina had Belle ask him.

He shook his head.

Regina devilishly smirked, thoroughly pleased to see him so weak and desperate for Belle's affection even after all he'd done to make her leave him.

“Will is just _such_ a better kisser than you.”

Rumple looked absolutely hurt and stood silently in shock as he looked her over.  

“Wh-what?”

“You’re pathetic. Watching you come groveling back to me is like a dog begging for scraps.”

“Why are you saying this,” he quietly asked, and his expression told Regina that the conversation was more painful for Rumple than stabbing him through and through with a sword. “This isn’t like you, Belle.”

“But it is _so_ like me,” Regina purred as she stepped out from behind the tree with Belle’s heart level with her own chest.

“Regina,” Rumple breathed out with surprise and barely contained anger.

Regina grinned at him and ran a thumb affectionately over Belle’s heart. The other woman smiled at Regina and stepped a little closer to her. Regina ran her fingers through Belle’s hair and her grin spread as she spun a loose curl around her index finger.

“You’ve been very helpful, Belle. Thank you,” Regina said to her and then raised the woman’s heart to her mouth and spoke into it. “Now run along home.”

Belle looked between Regina and Rumple and a few seconds later, she left the two of them alone in the woods.

Regina watched her leave and lowered the woman’s heart until she held it level to her hip before she looked at Rumple again.

“You have no idea how much I’m going to make you suffer for this,” he growled as he turned to look at her.

“No, you’re not going to do a thing. Unless you want to see what happens when I take this heart and _squeeze_.”

“Come on. We both know you don’t have it in you.”

“Don’t I,” Regina rhetorically asked before she started to squeeze Belle’s heart, just slightly at first.

“Alright, alright,” he complied. “I believe you.”

“Good,” Regina said. “I’m heading to New York now. And if you breathe one word of this to Zelena, you won’t be the only one who losses a heart.”

Regina looked at him for a moment until she was sure he understood. When she thought he did, she finally left to get ready for her trip out of town.

* * *

Emma parked in Regina’s driveway and blocked the Benz. She’d just gotten Regina back and as soon as the brunette had freed herself from wherever she was, the other woman was set on leaving Storybrooke. She hadn’t even seemed to think about herself or what it meant for anyone else if she left. She just wanted to save Robin. Fine. Whatever. Emma would let her. But she wasn’t going to let Regina go off alone without putting up a fight.

“You sure going to New York is a good idea,” Emma loudly asked as she quickly approached Regina. “You don’t know what Zelena has planned. What if you’re walking into a trap?”

“Robin’s in trouble. I have no choice,” Regina explained.

“You don’t have to go alone.”

“Don’t worry about me. You have your hands full with Maleficent’s request. And the Author. I can handle one wicked sister.”

“Things are different in New York. Without your magic, you—” Emma wasn’t sure how to make Regina understand. She really wanted to be clear, but the words wouldn’t come out. There was only so much she could say and do and she knew if Regina left without her that she’d failed.

“Listen,” Emma decided to say instead and grabbed her gun from under her arm. “If you won’t let me come with you then take this.”

She handed over the heavy weapon and watched Regina eye it curiously and with a furrowed brow for a moment before the brunette reluctantly took it.

“I hope you don’t have to use it, but…I want you to stay safe.”

Regina smiled down at the gun and then directed that smile at her.

“Thank you,” Regina said and carefully put the gun into her purse. “So you’re not…mad at me for keeping your parents’ secret?”

Emma shrugged and avoided eye contact.

“It’s between me and them. You were just trying to help.”

Before either one of them could say anything else, Regina’s phone beeped with a notification. Emma’s beeped soon after.

“It’s Henry,” Regina told her. “It’s a video message.”

“It must be a thing now. I have one from him, too,” Emma replied.

What they saw when they opened the message was nothing short of a nightmare.

Cruella smirked at them like she was the devil herself and informed both mothers that if they wanted to see their son alive again they would bring the Author to her. She wanted her happy ending and he was the only one that could grant it. Henry would be collateral damage if the Author wasn’t delivered, but neither woman knew where to find him and Henry was in trouble. Again.

They lowered their phones and shared an enraged glare. Regina’s looked more subtle than Emma’s felt and maybe Regina was better at keeping it together than she was, but Emma was pissed. There was too much going on and Henry was the last person that should have been stuck in the middle of the shit fest Gold had brought with him when he came back to town.

As soon as she found Cruella, she’d kill her.

* * *

After a helpful but not exactly pleasant conversation with Emma’s parents, she and Emma—and Hook—found out where Cruella was holding Henry captive. Emma had sent a picture she took from the video to Ruby who Regina had told her did laps around town at least once a week. Snow confirmed that on weekends she took the trails near the park and could probably help and once Ruby got the picture message, she sent a reply with the information on the trail marker she recognized in the background.

The Charmings suggested using a locator spell on the flask they’d given the Author when they’d only known him as the peddler, because apparently he dropped it on his way out of the convent the other day, and Emma had made sure to send them as far away from her to do whatever they could to help. Regina had noticed her reluctance to be in the same room as them and any time they spoke up, even if what they said wasn’t even directed at their daughter, Emma immediately tensed and her glare hardened.

The only reason she walked through the woods with the handless wonder and Emma was because the blonde had volunteered them for the small group search party. Regina was in no place to argue with the younger woman. Their son needed them and there was no way she wasn’t going to be one of the people out looking for him. The only thing she didn’t approve of was Hook’s presence. She tolerated it and didn’t dare push Emma’s buttons. If Emma wanted Hook there with them then Regina had to keep her mouth shut about how she truly felt about the pirate who’d nearly let her die at the hands of Greg Mendell.

And apparently Emma trusted him. The blonde told her parents that with Henry’s life on the line she needed to be around people she could trust. It seemed Hook, and her as well, were the only people she trusted after recent events. Regina was happy to be trusted, although she didn’t appreciate being lumped together with Hook. But she bit her tongue and walked through the woods while it drizzled, a yellow umbrella in her hand as Emma and Hook walked in front of her.

“You’re acting like a petulant child,” she finally decided to say after she watched Emma kick and roll a log as they approached it. “Your parents did a bad thing. They apologized. Get over it.”

“Forgive me if I don’t take advice from the woman who held a grudge for half her life because a _ten year old_ spilled her secret,” Emma snapped back in response, her hair stringy from the light rain she hadn’t bothered to protect herself against when she left the apartment.

“Swan. If you won’t listen to Regina then perhaps you’ll listen to me,” Hook started to say. “You were able to forgive both of us, all because you found it in your heart to see past it.”

“That’s the difference,” Emma grumbled. “It’s that you never held yourself as the…paragon of virtue. Neither of you did! You were honest about who you were. My parents weren’t. They…said they were heroes.”

Hook sighed and roughly grabbed Emma’s arm. He stopped her and forced her to turn and face him. Regina stopped close behind them and shot Hook a displeased look at how he chose to manhandle Emma.

“Even heroes make mistakes, love,” Hook said, and Regina softened because she had to agree with him.

“You know, Emma, a long time ago…your mother gave me some advice,” Regina confessed. “She said I needed to believe I could still earn forgiveness, that I’d get a chance at grace. I didn’t realize it then, but…she was talking about herself.”

Regina watched carefully for Emma’s reaction and tried to give her a reassuring smile in case that was all she needed to change her mind about her parents.

“Emma…she’s been trying to make up for what she did for a long time,” she added.

“You two understand them so much, you can forgive them,” Emma snipped. “I…can’t. There are more important things to worry about right now. Like…saving Henry.”

Emma moved forward, sadder than she was upset. At least she wasn’t as angry when she walked off. That was something, right?

Hook shot her a look over his shoulder and maybe they had something in common. It didn’t change how she felt about him, but when it came to Emma they thankfully seemed to be on the same page.

They’d only just started to follow after Emma when suddenly they heard a dog bark again and again. Emma stopped and Regina and Hook shortly caught up to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long before they heard a shout for help.

“Henry,” Regina quietly said, her eyes wide and worried.

In an instant, she, Emma, and Hook took off at full speed in an attempt to catch Henry before anything awful could happen to him.

“Henry!”

They all took turns calling out to him and looked all around the woods in case he ran past them.

“Quick, it’s coming from over there,” Emma said.

“No, it’s this way,” Hook breathlessly pointed to Emma’s left.

“Has canon fire has damaged your hearing,” Regina asked. “It’s clearly coming from over there.”

“Help! Someone help me. Please,” Henry cried.

Regina saw the panic hit Emma before the younger woman waveringly, emotionally, commanded, “Split up.”

The three of them broke apart and Regina immediately dropped her umbrella on her way toward where she thought she heard Henry’s cries. She looked around frantically for her son and didn’t call out for him again until she heard him one more time. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Somebody!”

“Henry?”

His voice sounded a little hollow and distorted, but it also seemed close. She inhaled deeply and suddenly and turned just in time to see where Henry’s voice came from when he yelled out again.

“Help me!  Please!”

She moved to her left, her hand on the bark of a tree, and glared at the large seashell that projected her son’s voice.

“Rumple,” she growled.

“Can I help you, dearie,” his smug voice said to her right.

Regina snapped her head to the side and saw him walk out from between two trees. He grinned at her as he came toward her and she was confident he had found another way to hurt her even though she controlled Belle’s heart.

"I'm sure that's exactly what I could do," Rumple continued. "But I won't."

She glared at him and asked, "Where's Henry?"

"Not. Telling," he answered and held his grin firmly in place.

His arrogance sent chills down her spine. For a man who'd been crying in front of the woman he loved only seconds before he found out her heart was in someone else's possession—literally and figuratively—he was too cocky to not be up to something.

Regina looked around a few more times, left and right and leaned one way or the other in an attempt to spot her son in case he was hidden behind a bush or tree.

"Henry," she loudly called out to him again.

Rumple chuckled and shook his head.

"It's no use, Regina. He can't hear you."

Regina paled at the implication.

"Oh, not because he's dead," Rumple carelessly waved a hand to dismiss any of Regina's fears. "It was never my intention for him to die, but we'll just have to see how this all plays out now, won't we?"

"What are you talking about," she asked while she clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides, worried and angry and filled with desperate hope for Henry to be safe.

"You see," he started to explain and stepped closer to her, "I have a controlled subject in place. I know what they're going to do. But there are a few other variables factored into this...experiment of mine that I just can't predict."

"What variables?"

"For starters? The Savior."

Regina gulped, afraid and still a little confused by what Rumple was trying to pull.

"You realize that even though you led me to believe you'd chosen her over your soulmate, the _second_ you took Belle's heart you made it clear that your first choice was only a distraction. Instead, you chose Robin Hood. And now, I'm here to collect what's mine."

"How do you plan on doing that," Regina asked and hated how her voice broke by the end of the question.

Rumple laughed.

"That's the best part. I don't have a plan. Well, I've set things into motion, but I'm not sure how things will turn out. All I know is that Emma's upset and convinced that Henry's in danger."

"He is."

"Oh, but he's not," Rumple flashed her a slimy grin.

 _You little imp_ , Regina internally growled. _What the hell do you have up your sleeve?_

"Cruella can't hurt anyone. Even if she had free will," he elaborated.

Regina's eyebrows jumped toward her hairline as she watched Rumple reveal a very dark heart he'd been carrying in his inside jacket pocket.

"After we last spoke, I was inspired," he said while he turned the heart around and stared at it thoughtfully. " _You_ inspired me, because you reminded me there's a much faster, _easier_ way to getting what I want. Manipulating people is tiring. Taking their hearts and forcing them to do everything you need them to do is painless. Well, maybe not for them."

Regina shook her head, stunned and overwhelmingly concerned for Emma.

"But I only need Cruella's heart to keep Henry hostage," Rumple added. "Someone had to do it and I wasn't about to risk my own life. However, Cruella can't kill your boy any more than you could. She and the Author have a history and some time ago, when the Author realized she was a threat to him, and a lot of other people, he made sure she couldn't even hurt someone out of self-defense."

"Henry's safe," Regina concluded.

"So long as no one else gets in the way, including the Savior and her erratic magic."

"No," Regina breathily exhaled and stared wide-eyed down at the ground for a moment as it all sank in. "No, no, no."

She shook her head and furrowed her brow a second before she looked back up at Rumple. His eyes glimmered with monstrous intent to match the pure evil behind his wide grin.

"I warned you not to test me," he said and then disappeared in a plume of dark red smoke.

She heard a yelp and a shout and whipped around to where she last saw the blonde before they'd split up.

"Emma!"

She sprinted back toward the direction she’d come from and hoped to reach Emma before the younger woman did anything to compromise herself and that good natured heart of hers. Cruella was innocent and defenseless and only did what Rumple told her to do. The imp had confessed that the other woman was harmless thanks to the Author and Emma had no idea. The only thing on Emma’s mind would be Henry and the perceived threat Cruella appeared to be.

She huffed and puffed, out of shape and wearing the wrong shoes to run full force through the tall grass and the clumps of partially wet dirt beneath her feet. She struggled, but she rushed. She had to get there in time. There was no other option. If she was too late everything would fall apart.

"Emma," Regina yelled out, still unable to see the blonde as she turned and ran in the direction she last saw the other woman go. "Emma!"

She stopped for a moment when she heard a shout and then a few more that followed the first. She whipped her head to where she thought she heard it come from and took a deep breath before she held it and started to hurry toward the loud voices. She waited to exhale when she took her third stride toward the suspected direction Emma, Cruella, and Henry were, too terrified that she wouldn’t be able to stop Emma even if she got there soon enough to reason with her.

She'd seen the look in her eyes as soon as they'd both finished listening to the message Cruella left them. She knew Rumple was voraciously determined to turn Emma dark at any and all costs and she feared the worst when those two things were combined as they had been in that moment.

She ran toward a cliff and saw her son gripped tightly in Cruella's hold as she held a gun to Henry's head and occasionally pointed it at Emma. Regina opened her mouth to call out to Emma again when she saw the blonde take a defensive stance she recognized from their magic lessons, but before she could get a single syllable out Emma was knocked to the ground by a long, large tentacle to her right.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down, Savior," Ursula barked at her as Emma rolled onto her back.

Ursula cut a look to Cruella, but Regina wasn't sure what that look conveyed from where she ran up behind the tentacle-wielder.

"What the hell are you doing," Ursula yelled at Cruella.

That answered any questions Regina had about who's side Ursula was on.

"Getting what I want," Cruella sneered and held Henry tighter.

"Mom," Henry shouted.

Emma pushed herself back onto her feet and tried to use her magic again when Cruella stepped closer to the edge of the cliff with Henry. Ursula took a step toward Cruella and then the gun was pointed at her.

"Back off," Cruella snapped. "Or he goes over."

Ursula stopped where she stood and held out an open palm to Cruella.

"You need to decide what's more important," Ursula tried to reason with the other woman. "Using the boy as bait or being with me."

"Why would I _ever_ pick you? You can't quench the kind of thirst I have. You can't give me what I want most in life. _This_ is what I want."

"You want to die," Emma asked and before Ursula could scold her or push her down again, magic shot out of her hands toward the woman.

"No," Regina and Ursula simultaneously exclaimed.

Regina bolted toward Emma even after the magic was released and Ursula threw two tentacles out to block the magic's path to Cruella.

Ursula cried out as Emma's magic hit and singed parts of her tentacles, but both Henry and Cruella remained untouched by the electric burst. Ursula's tentacles retreated while the woman grimaced and touched a hand to one of her hips.

Regina ran out in front of Emma and held up her hands, careful not to touch her while she was worked up, and pleadingly looked at the blonde.

"Regina, move! She has Henry," Emma said as she tried to maneuver around her.

"It's not her," Regina quickly countered.

"What do you mean it's not her? She's right there, with Henry. I can see her!"

"But she doesn't have any control over what she's doing," she tried to explain. "It's Gold. All of this is Gold's doing. The kidnapping, the message, these threats."

"I don't care," Emma growled and glared at her. "She's got Henry and I am _not_ letting anything happen to him."

The blonde tried to shove past her, but she stood her ground and tracked Emma's movements. She veered left and right to oppose wherever Emma tried to go and when the younger woman attempted to barrel into her, she quietly apologized before she pushed Emma away with her magic.

Emma flew back and landed on her ass a few feet away. While she started to get up, Regina looked over her shoulder at Ursula.

"She can't kill anyone," she told the other woman. "She's incapable thanks to the Author."

Ursula's eyes almost popped out of her head and she turned back to Cruella as one of her heels inched off the edge of the cliff.

"Cruella, don't," Ursula yelled.

Regina's attention went back to Emma who looked ready to start a fight. Or maybe she wanted to finish the one Regina had accidentally started.

Emma pushed out her arms and magic hurtled toward Regina.

Regina waved her hands in front of her and created a protective barrier that stopped the magic on contact. The barrier faded when she lowered her hands and she watched as Emma clenched her fists at her sides.

"Don't do this," Regina pleadingly commanded. "You don't want to fight me."

"Then who the hell do I want to fight? He's our son and you're protecting the woman who's threatening to throw him off a cliff."

Regina shook her head and confessed, "I'm protecting you."

"What could you possibly have to protect me from," Emma asked before she threw more magic—stronger magic—her way.

Regina combatted it with her magic in the blink of an eye, but it required a little more strength to push back Emma's energy with hers. White and red collided before they exploded and shot out away from them and the others on the cliff. That was except for Hook who almost ran right into the falloff of their combined magic as he hurried toward the action. He leaned back and slid on the dirt before he flailed and stumbled onto his back by a tree. Regina didn't care to know if he even tried to get up. Though she really didn't care for him, she would have advised—if she wasn't too busy holding off Emma—for him to wait it out on the ground.

Emma continued to glare at her for another moment before something behind Regina caused the blonde great distress. The blonde’s eyes opened wide and a second later, Regina heard a bang before a white barrier encompassed her.

Regina jumped in surprise at the sound and slowly turned to see a bullet suspended, still spinning, within the white barrier as the magic remained in place around her.

She looked past the bullet through the protective barrier and saw Henry, Ursula, and Cruella stare at her with large eyes and slack jaws. All of them were just as shocked as she was that she'd almost been shot. When she looked a little closer, she saw one of Ursula's tentacles was wrapped around Cruella's waist, a second one wrapped around Henry's torso, and a third was intertwined with Henry's right hand on top of the gun. There appeared to have been a struggle to free the gun from Cruella's grip and had caused the gun to accidentally fire.

Regina was extremely lucky to be alive.

She turned back to face Emma and finally exhaled, unaware that she'd even held her breath for that long. It then occurred to her that Emma had seen the assumed struggle from over her shoulder and reacted in just enough time to save Regina from the bullet.

She carelessly waved her hand and the bullet disintegrated into powder and fell to the ground. Emma's barrier disappeared a second later.

"Thank you," Regina finally managed to say and held Emma's gaze as she spoke to the younger woman.

Emma only stared back at her, still stunned and otherwise unresponsive to anything else around them for another moment.

"Mom," Henry broke through the silence and Regina spun around to see Ursula gently push him forward, toward her and away from Cruella, with her tentacle.

Regina sighed and closed her eyes as she tightly wrapped her arms around him.

"Henry," she said with obvious relief.

She opened her eyes and looked over the top of Henry's head at Ursula. The other woman tugged Cruella toward her with another one of her tentacles while her eyes focused on Regina and Henry.

"Thank you," Regina mouthed to her.

Ursula bowed her head in a partial nod and then looked at Cruella. Regina knew that if she said or did anything in front of Cruella, Rumple would know and he wouldn't have had any use for the woman after that. Nothing would stop him from crushing her heart and moving on. She noticed how Ursula gave Cruella a squeeze with her tentacle and she knew they'd been more than partners in crime since their arrival. Even if she didn't know Rumple had made Cruella kidnap Henry and thought the other woman had done it to further her plan to get her happy ending, Ursula clearly still cared about her. If Ursula was going to be happy with Cruella, she knew she had to act fast before Rumple could do anything to destroy whatever chance the other women had with each other.

She pulled away from Henry and placed her hands on his shoulders. She bent her knees a little to put herself at eye level with him and searched his eyes for a moment before she told him she had to go.

"Stay with Emma. I'll be back soon. Don't let her do anything stupid," Regina said and gave him a another hug, quick that time, before she passed him over to the blonde.

"Where are you going," Emma asked as she lightly grabbed one of Henry's arms and pulled him against her front.

Emma hugged him, but her eyes remained solely on Regina.

"There's something I need to do. Go back to the apartment. Take Cruella with you.”

“What? No,” Emma started to argue, but Regina talked over her.

“She can’t hurt either of you even if she wanted to. If you see Rumple, do _not_ engage with him. Okay?"

Emma frowned and opened her mouth, presumably to argue with her, but Regina cut her off before she could say anything.

"Be safe," she advised just before Hook jogged over to them.

"Swan!"

Emma and Henry both looked away from Emma to watch Hook approach them and as soon as their attention was off of her, she separated Ursula from Cruella and vanished in a puff of purple smoke.


	9. Chapter 9

The first thing they saw when the smoke cleared was the cabin. They were close enough to it to see through one of the windows, but they stood on the dirt path that trailed between it and the woods. Regina had purposely avoided poofing inside or even as close to the cabin as to land on the porch. She watched cautiously and squeezed Ursula's hand in hers when she felt the other woman start to walk forward.

"What are we doing back here," Ursula asked and turned to look at her, confusion evident in her dark eyes and her furrowed brow.

"I couldn't say it in front of Cruella or he'd know we were coming," Regina replied. "He has her heart. _That's_ why she kidnapped Henry, because he forced her to."

"Oh," Ursula exhaled like she'd been hit in the gut and winded. "That's why she said all those things to me. It didn't make any sense. Earlier—"

Ursula stopped herself and looked at Regina who flashed a quick smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I know," Regina said. "I don't know what happened between you two earlier, but I know how you feel."

Ursula's vulnerable expression faded and the woman soon replaced it with rage. Ursula clenched her fists at her sides and two of her tentacles slid out from under her skirt whether she realized it or not.

"Are you sure he's in there," Ursula angrily asked through gritted teeth.

"No, but that's why we're out here and not up close," she answered. "If he moves past the window, we'll see him. If he is in there, we'll corner him from each side of the cabin."

"We? This isn't your fight. He has Cruella's heart, not Emma's."

"Maybe not, but it's my fault. I took Belle's heart so he took Cruella's. He thought he could use her to turn Emma dark and that it would hurt me like taking Belle's heart hurt him."

"Why did you take Belle's heart," Ursula asked with a tilted head, confused again and curious.

"It's a longer story than either of us have time for."

"You're right," Ursula agreed with a nod and turned her attention back to the cabin. "But it isn't your fault. Rumple chose to take Cruella's heart. You didn't. And now? I'm going to get it back for her before I throw him in the ocean and let him drown."

Regina grinned.

"Glad to see that no matter which side of the good and evil spectrum you fall on you still know how to get fired up."

Ursula smirked at her and said, "I'm not the only one."

Regina wasn't sure who else Ursula was talking about, but she at least counted herself and there was a slight chance Maleficent was someone to consider. The more pressing dilemma was the retrieval of Cruella's heart, however, so Regina chose to focus on that.

She stared at the cabin for a moment and looked at all the possible ways to infiltrate and trap Rumple if he really was inside.

"You take the front door," Regina quietly commanded to ensure no one else but Ursula heard her. "I'll sneak through the back. Distract him, but don't attack him until you see me. I'll be there to back you up in case anything goes wrong."

"Okay," Ursula nodded her consent and understanding.

"It's also possible he has the Author in there. Emma's been looking for him. They released him from the book and he ran off. They haven't tracked him down yet and my guess is Rumple got to him first."

"Well, a little more warning would have been nice."

Regina rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she sarcastically started. "Next time I'll wake up from my magically induced sleep sooner and defend myself without my own magic a thousand times better next time Rumple holds me captive. Just so I can warn you about something that doesn’t really matter now."

Ursula huffed out a breath.

Just then, both women saw something glide past the partially drawn and transparent curtain. For a moment, Regina wasn't sure what she saw, but when the figure moved back in front of the window again she caught the back of a man's head. She saw familiar light brown hair near shoulder length and she recognized the suit jacket from the woods earlier.

"I can at least say for sure that Rumple's in there," she told Ursula.

"He's not alone," Ursula quickly added and Regina quickly looked over to see what the other woman had.

Across the room, more visible than Rumple, another man stood in front of a window. He appeared to be talking, his eyes set on Rumple, but the conversation seemed mostly one-sided when Rumple waved a hand and shook his head.

Rumple looked quick to cut him off and Regina could only imagine the things the Author had to say.

"Okay," Regina said and started to think of something else. "New plan. You attack him first. Subdue the Author, approach and stall Rumple. Get him talking. I'll come through the back and stay out of sight until I see a good opportunity and then I'll inflict a little magical warfare."

"If you can keep him occupied long enough, I might just be able to steal the heart back," Ursula suggested.

"And then maybe you could slap him with one of those water-loving limbs of yours. For both of us," Regina evilly purred.

Ursula smirked at her and said, "Let's do this."

Regina nodded and the two of them parted before Ursula took the first step onto the porch. Regina went the long way around the cabin, careful to duck beneath the window sill the Author stood in front of and crept around to the back door. During her approach, she listened for the other woman to know how much time she had before busting in and waiting for the right opportunity.

A moment later, the door banged open and Ursula's muffled but very wildly confident voice greeted Rumple. Regina smirked as she listened more to Ursula's cadence then her actual words for the next minute and when she heard Rumple respond, she reached out for the door but hesitated to open it.

Until she heard a crash, a thud, and a vicious growl from Rumple. She threw open the door, but made sure it didn't hit anything in case Ursula had succeed and Rumple still hadn't expected her, and she took a quick step inside. She saw only Ursula and Rumple in the cabin and peeked around the corner to see the Author unconscious on the floor. When she looked at Ursula again, the other woman sent her a reassuring grin over Rumple's shoulder before she caught his attention again.

"Now you're gonna give me Cruella's heart or this is going to be a very unpleasant meeting," Ursula threatened.

"You honestly think you can take me," Rumple chuckled.

The corners of Ursula’s lips curled upward even further and she cocked a hip and her head.

Regina motioned to an invisible breast pocket in front of her chest for Ursula to see in her peripheral vision. It was the last place she'd seen Rumple carry Cruella's heart and if Ursula was going to give Regina any kind of signal to attack him in the next few seconds, it would help if Ursula was prepared to save the heart that could very well be in the middle of the fight. Regina knew Ursula wouldn't want anything to happen to it and she really didn't that either. So she did what she could to warn Ursula of the heart's potential location and after a brief moment, Ursula tried to pry information about the heart out of the treacherous man who'd stolen it.

"Give me her heart," Ursula demanded with a low, deep, voice.

"Not a chance."

Regina looked around in a hurry to see if there was a box or a satchel or just the heart left lying around all by itself. She wanted—and needed, if the plan was going to work—to find the heart before they attacked and they were quickly running out of time. As soon as Rumple turned and saw her, they'd have to act fast or they'd surely lose.

Ursula sprouted four of her tentacles and let them hover above the cabin floor as she glared at Rumple. She was ready to attack, but she waited. It gave Rumple another distraction and it gave Regina more time to look around for Cruella’s heart.

Regina looked over at where the Author remained unconscious on the floor. She then looked from the Author to where Rumple had been standing when they were talking before she and Ursula came in. She looked for any signs that he’d left the heart somewhere even though she was sure he would have still had it in his hand when they first poofed to the cabin. He’d still been controlling Cruella when they left the woods and Regina’s magic placed them outside of the cabin in less than a minute.

Unless the Author had interrupted him. Then maybe Rumple set the heart aside just as she and Ursula arrived. Just then, her eyes landed on a box on an end table near the window Rumple previously stood in front of. The finish on the wooden box made it blend in with the wall behind it, but the black latch on the front of the box used to seal it was what caught Regina’s attention. If spotted it was a dead giveaway and Regina had hit her mark. The heart had to be in there.

“Even if you had her heart,” Rumple started to say, “she can’t love you like you love her.”

Regina cringed at those words. She knew it had to cut Ursula like a knife to hear them, true or not. She’d heard similar statements from Rumple plenty of times before and while his words that time had been directed at Ursula, Regina suddenly felt like they might also have been for her to hear as well.

“She doesn’t want love,” Rumple added. “She wants death and she wants to be the one to cause it. It’s what she lost a long time ago and her ability to kill has been her driving force this entire time.”

“Maybe that was true at the start, but you don’t know her like I do.”

“Oh, I should think I know her _type_ a lot better than you, though. She’s a killer, Ursula. Not a lover. You’ll never have her. Not all of her. A part of her will always feel lacking if she can’t kill. I might not have the same thirst for it as she does, but I certainly see the appeal.”

Regina knew it, too. She might have hated the things she’d done to punish others for protecting Snow, but she also knew how powerful it made her feel to wipe away villages with a single command to her loyal guards. The feeling was potent and it was just so easy, _too_ easy sometimes. She could understand how or why Cruella might want that back, especially if she had a thirst for it as Rumple had explained.

Ursula shook her head and was about to say something just as Regina was about to poof the heart into her possession, but Rumple beat her to it.

Red smoke enveloped the box and it appeared in his hands only seconds later.

Regina closed her eyes and internally cursed her idiocy. She shouldn’t have spent so much time thinking about Rumple’s words and how they affected Ursula. What was wrong with her lately? She needed to be more Evil Queen and less Regina. She’d done it before when she threatened to crush Belle’s heart. She needed that same fight and spirit again to make sure she helped Ursula get Cruella’s heart back. At least one of them deserved a happy ending and Ursula’s stared them both in the face as Rumple held the one thing that would keep her happy ending from being complete.

Rumple started to open the box, but Ursula whipped one of her tentacles at him and swiped him off his feet. As he fell to the floor, Ursula used another tentacle to catch the box before it tumbled to the floor with him. When the other woman caught it, she tossed it to Regina who thankfully managed to safely catch and hold onto it.

“Get that to her,” Ursula said as she slid two tentacles over Rumple to keep him pinned to the floor.

Regina shook her head. She knew what Rumple was capable of and after what he’d explained to Belle she was sure there was even more he was capable of the less love he felt inside himself. She was also sure neither she nor Ursula could handle it alone. Ursula was a single poof away from getting what she wanted.

“Go,” the other woman demanded.

Regina saw Rumple spark up his magic beneath Ursula’s tentacles from out of her peripheral vision. After Ursula had saved Henry and Cruella from one of Emma’s magical blasts, Regina knew a couple of Ursula’s tentacles were still injured. Rumple would certainly do more damage than harm and she wasn’t about to let the other woman become fried calamari.

Regina hurried to Ursula and surrounded them with purple smoke mid-stride as she grabbed onto one of Ursula’s arms. A rough hand painfully gripped her ankle as she tried to leave and she knew he’d travel with them if she didn’t find a way to shake him off.

Rumple’s hand was wrapped around her ankle too tightly and she had a split second to choose. So she shoved the box into Ursula’s arms and refocused her magic to transport only Ursula to the Charmings apartment where she could return Cruella’s heart. As soon as the other woman disappeared and it was just her and Rumple—and the knocked out Author—in the cabin, her ankle was yanked and she fell face first onto the floor.

“Let me give you a friendly warning, dearie,” Rumple growled above her as he let go of her ankle and placed his hand on the back of her neck to hold her in place on her stomach. “The darker this heart becomes, the less like myself I’ll become. You’ve only known me as Rumpelstiltskin, but soon I won’t be here to protect you from what I am without my conscience.”

Rumple grabbed the back of her shirt with his free hand and lifted her onto her feet by her shirt and the back of her neck. His fingers tangled in her hair as he pulled her off the floor and she grunted and groaned at the pain his manhandling incited.

She wasn’t even stable on her feet before she was pushed at full force toward the cabin wall. In an instant, she crashed against it and hit her head dangerously close to the coat hooks. The impact made her bleary, her head a little light and her vision a little foggy, but she had just enough thought to poof to the apartment before Rumple could grab her again.

Thankfully, she heard him wheeze and turned to see him stagger toward her instead of lunge at her. Apparently his near-black heart couldn’t handle the strain of beating her up so frequently. She took a deep breath and purple swirled in front of her.

* * *

Emma brought a surprisingly compliant Cruella to the apartment. She kept Henry tucked against her right side while she kept a watchful eye on Cruella who she made sure stayed to her left. Regina might have been convinced Cruella couldn’t hurt him, but Emma wasn’t going to take that risk.

Inside the apartment, she made Henry a sandwich and occasionally glanced over at the couch to watch Cruella. The only thing she was guilty of was not finding a comfortable position. That cheered Emma up a little. After what the woman had tried to do to her kid, the least she deserved was to be uncomfortable.

“Do you have anything to drink? Preferably liquor,” Cruella asked as she ran her hands through the thin curtains behind the couch.

“For you? No,” Emma replied.

“Mom,” Henry quietly said in a warning tone.

“What? She tried to shoot you and then throw you off a cliff,” Emma argued.

“But Mom said—”

“I don’t care what she said. I still don’t trust Cruella and whatever Regina went to handle is just a ticking time bomb until it’s actually taken care of.”

“Mom wouldn’t tell us to bring her here if it wasn’t okay, even if she still had to vanish to deal with whatever it is she’s doing.”

Emma sighed and set his plate on the counter space above the kitchen sink.

“Just eat your sandwich,” she told him.

Henry had only picked up the sandwich, about to take his first bite, when Emma saw familiar purple smoke appear in the center of the room near the small and rickety kitchen table. She perked up as soon as she saw the recognizable magic and started to walk around the counter to get closer to who she thought it would be, but she stopped just past where Henry sat when the smoke cleared and revealed Ursula.

Emma frowned and instantly deflated.

“Where’s Regina,” she asked.

Ursula took a minute to inspect her surroundings before she seemed grounded enough to give Emma a response.

“She was supposed to come with me, at least I think that was the point, but at the last second she gave me Cruella’s heart and let go of me.”

“Wait, you have Cruella’s heart,” Henry asked and immediately dropped his sandwich back onto his plate before he completely spun around in his chair. “How?”

“Rumple took it. It’s why Cruella was trying to hurt Henry, which she apparently can’t do anyway.”

Once Ursula provided her with an answer, she watched the other woman find Cruella across the room and then glide over to her in long strides that got her to the couch faster.

“Darling, there you are. Where’d you go,” Cruella asked. “I was worried when you ran off with Regina.”

Ursula smiled at her and sat down next to Cruella. She set the box in her lap and opened it. She carefully picked up the extremely dark, but not entirely black, heart in her hands and held it up between them. Everyone in the apartment could see it clear as day as well as what Ursula said and did next.

“I ran off with her to get this back where it belongs,” Ursula said.

Cruella looked down at the heart and smiled before she met Ursula’s gaze again.

“How sappy is it that you have my heart,” Cruella rhetorically asked.

“It’s only sappy if I have it in more ways than one,” Ursula said and averted her eyes, her expression sad in seconds.

Cruella frowned and cupped the side of Ursula’s face.

“Of course you do.”

“Then why wouldn’t you tell me what your real happy ending is?”

“What? My happiness comes from being with you.”

Ursula shook her head and explained, “Rumple said you have a thirst.”

“Forget what Rumple said.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? Why would he lie about that? Just to hurt me?”

“Yes! Although…he isn’t wrong.”

Ursula’s head snapped up and she looked utterly betrayed.

“Not completely anyway,” Cruella clarified.

Ursula furrowed her brow and looked confused.

“I’ve always had this desire to…” Cruella looked over at Emma and Henry before she turned to face Ursula again. “To kill. I’ve never had a real reason for wanting to do it. I just liked it.”

Ursula’s eyes looked impossibly wide and tear-filled because of Cruella’s confession. She dropped her head down and her shoulders slumped forward, a look of defeat and loss in a swift movement with no words needed to express how she felt.

“But with you, I see more to life. I see splashes of _color_. I’ve lived in darkness for so long. Maybe it’s time for me to live in the light.”

Ursula slowly looked up to meet Cruella’s eyes, shocked.

“The hunger I have for death and destruction. It’s not as potent if I can’t do any harm to anyone. It’s almost an empty desire. I want to kill because I can’t, not because I actually want to kill. Maybe if I let the Author keep my story the way it is, if I don’t have him change what he wrote, then maybe I won’t want to kill anymore. Maybe all I’ll need is you.”

“You’d…you’d be willing to give that up…for me?”

“Wouldn’t you be giving up more just by loving someone as insane as me,” Cruella joked even though her words rang true from what Emma understood of their situation.

Ursula sucked in a deep breath and opened her mouth as if to voice a reply, but she looked down at the heart she continued to hold in her hands.

“Wait,” Ursula said and lifted the heart just a little more. “Tell me all of this again when you have control over your own heart.”

Ursula slid Cruella’s heart back into the woman’s chest and Cruella gasped as her heart was returned.

Cruella smiled at Ursula like she was the sun and didn’t hesitate to tell her, “I love you.”

Ursula beamed at her and surged forward. Emma felt her heart warm up and thud against her chest as she watched the two of them kiss, their happiness seemingly achieved. She was happy for them, but also felt a sense of longing for something she suddenly realized she didn’t think she had.

Before her thoughts spiraled downhill from there, something else made a thud. One Emma actually heard outside of her head.

She looked to her right and saw Regina on her knees with a hand on the stairs that led to the loft.

“Regina!”

Emma rushed over to the brunette with Henry hot on her heels. When she reached the other woman, she took her by the arms and helped her stand.

“What the hell happened,” Emma asked just as she pulled away from Regina to get a better look at the brunette.

“Mom,” Henry exclaimed with concern when he saw what Emma assumed was the same thing she herself couldn’t look away from.

There was a cut above her left eye and a blood streak that dried along her eyebrow and temple.

“Who did this to you,” Emma asked as anger flooded her system.

Regina stared at her for a moment before she shook her head and told her, “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Just…help me sit down so I can heal myself.”

Emma threw one of Regina’s arms over her shoulder and Henry did the same. The two of them helped her to the kitchen table and Emma eased her down into one of the chairs.

Regina lifted her hand and took a deep breath. She poised her hand over her neck first and attracted Emma’s eyes to bruises she hadn’t seen sooner.

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed and batted away Regina’s hand.

She pushed back some of Regina’s hair for a better look and saw that the bruises extended around the brunette’s entire neck, but oddly weren’t in the shape of a hand. The bruises were consistent with strangulation, but not with handprints or rope marks as a cause.

Regina closed her eyes and winced the more of her neck Emma exposed.

“It’s nothing,” Regina tried to brush it off.

“That’s not nothing. Tell me who did this,” she demanded.

“It’s nothing because I can just _heal_ myself. Please, just leave it alone.”

“Regina—”

“If you want to know who’s responsible just so you can attack them, let me be the first to tell you that you won’t win that fight.”

“This isn’t okay, Regina,” she sternly said.

“But it will be,” the other woman insisted and looked up at Emma, stared directly into her eyes.

One look and it was enough for Emma to relent.

“Okay,” Emma softly said and took a step back as she let Regina’s hair fall back into place and cover the bruise.

While Regina healed herself, Emma noticed that Cruella and Ursula had moved from the couch to stand on the other side of the table. Both of them were focused on Regina and they actually seemed concerned. It was surprising to say the least, but Emma had a strange feeling that maybe one day Regina could actually be friends with all the villains Rumple recruited for his plan.

“Are you alright, darling,” Cruella asked and Emma turned to Regina.

Regina looked as lively and olive-toned as she had been before she’d arrived and her cuts and bruises were all gone.

Regina nodded and said, “Yes. Thank you.”

“Oh no, it’s me who owes _you_ thanks. You helped Ursula get my heart back.”

And then it clicked in Emma’s mind. Regina hadn’t been banged up until after she’d seen Rumple. She still wasn’t sure who had strangled her, but she was sure Rumple had bashed her head into something. And if that was true, he was likely responsible for the bruises as well.

“Gold,” she growled. “I’ll kill that son of a bitch.”

“Emma, no—” Regina immediately argued and grabbed her wrist to keep her from rushing out of the apartment.

“What? He’s the one that orchestrated all of this. He used Cruella to threaten Henry and he hurt you. He was convinced that he could turn me dark. Everything that’s happened in the last few weeks is all his fault. You should be pissed!”

“I am, but…it’s more complicated than you realize.”

“What’s complicated about it? Gold’s an awful person and I’m gonna kill him,” Emma said and ripped her hand out of Regina’s grasp.

As she stalked off toward the front door, she only made it past the kitchen table before she tripped and fell into a slimy tentacle.

“Listen to her,” she heard Ursula say.

The tentacle that caught her was wrapped around her waist and straightened her out so she stood up again. As soon as she was on her feet, Emma tried to keep moving forward and even squirmed left and right in an attempt to wriggle out of Ursula’s hold, but she was unsuccessful.

“Let go of me,” she grunted while she continued to struggle.

“There are more important things than making him pay,” Ursula calmly insisted.

“Coming from a room full of women who have wanted nothing but revenge for what’s been done to them,” Emma replied.

“Mom, please. Don’t go after him,” Henry pleaded.

Emma started to give up the fight against Ursula and her tentacle. After a minute, she gave up the fight completely and turned around to face everyone else. By the time she turned, however, she was too late to see that Regina had given Ursula a nod and look of gratitude for her efforts to stop Emma from leaving.

Ursula only let her go and retracted her tentacle when she appeared to think Emma was no longer in a hurry to beat the life out of Gold. While Emma might have later realized she owed Ursula and Regina a thank you for stopping her from making a huge mistake she could have possibly regretted, it was still so tiring to be restrained. Ever since her parents had started lying to her, she’d been revved up and preparing for the other shoe to drop. She wanted to believe her parents, but there was always a large part of her that knew something was wrong. As soon as she found out the truth, Gold had been a problem and Regina was undercover. So much was happening all at once and she learned the biggest lie of them all was about her innate goodness. Her goodness came at a large price for someone else and it also meant she’d been heavy-handedly molded into what her parents had always wanted her to be.

The only way to keep her anger at bay and to bury whatever she needed to in order to keep moving, was for her to find something to do. She had to have another course of action.

“Alright, so you’re going to New York and I…I still need to find Maleficent’s daughter.”

Emma suddenly remembered that in all the chaos of the day, she’d completely forgotten to check facts about Maleficent’s daughter who had sounded strangely like a girl she used to know. Her eyes widened and before anyone thought they needed to stop her, Emma bolted for the door.

* * *

Emma plopped down in front of the microfiche as soon as she entered the library. It took her a moment to find it, but when she had she immediately made a beeline to the one thing that would give her the confirmation she needed and had put off up until that point. She wasn't entirely sure how to use it because she hadn't spent much time in the library when she was a kid. She at least knew what it was and what it did, but that was as far as her knowledge of the machine went.

She was a fast learner, however, and before she knew it she was able to retrieve the right flat sheets marked with the year Lily would have arrived in the Land without Magic. She scrolled through images of the old newspapers and scanned each page for a story on an abandoned child, but for several minutes her search was unsuccessful. She sighed and erratically tapped her foot against the floor as she scrolled further and further through the articles. She needed answers before she ran off to find Maleficent's daughter. She needed to know who she was looking for, at least have some idea what the woman looked like so she didn't bring back the wrong woman named Lilith. Plus, she needed to know the woman's full name if she intended to find where exactly in the world the other woman resided. But the reason she really needed answers before she drove off to find Lilith was because she didn't want to be surprised like she had been in New York when she found Rumpelstiltskin's son, who had also turned out to be her ex-boyfriend and the biological father of her child.

Overeager to find what she was looking for and a little caught up in her thoughts, Emma almost missed the article. Thankfully the headline was in big and bold enough print that even with blurred vision and a quick glance over the image, Emma stopped herself before she could scroll past it.

Lilith Page. There was a black and white picture of a girl, only about two or so, next to a picture of the girl as a baby with a star-shaped birthmark on her right wrist. The headline read: Abandoned Baby Finds Home. Emma's heart pounded harshly against her chest and her blood pumped loudly and vigorously in her ears. Lily might have been a little girl in the picture, but she had the same dark hair and penetrating dark eyes Emma remembered from when they were teens. The only difference was that the picture in the newspaper showed Lily with bigger eyes and a chubbier face.

Emma read the first sentence of the article with baited breath despite already having her answer as to who Maleficent's daughter truly was.

_"Lilith Page, 3, was found by a customer outside a grocery storer and given shelter until she was later handed over to an adoption agency in Minnesota."_

Emma couldn't help herself. She just had to keep reading.

_"She was the first child to be found abandoned in the middle of nowhere at birth, the second case reported a couple years later in Massachusets. While she's not the only child to be found on the side of the road, she is, however, the first to find a family._

_"The Page family instantly fell in love with their daughter the moment they set their eyes on her. They didn't need to share DNA to know she was theirs and as soon as the adoption papers were signed, Lilith was on her way home._

_"Now, three years later, she lives a happy, healthy life. It may be a fairytale ending for this little girl and her grateful parents, but the Page family wants to call to attention to just how many children go without a home or love."_

Emma's eyes froze on the final sentence. She couldn't read anymore, especially when she thought about how she was probably the baby in Massachusets that went unnamed in the article. She clenched her fist near the scrolling device as she pushed her wrist into the edge of the table that held the microfiche. She was about to start a search and look into some old bounty hunter contacts for more current information about Lily when a voice startled her from behind.

"Ain't fate a bitch," Regina said with a hint of amusement.

Emma heard the other woman's grin before she even turned around to look at her.

"You know her, don't you? Maleficent's daughter?"

Emma looked down for a moment and took a shallow breath before she replied, "Yeah."

“How do you know her?”

“She was…my friend.”

“Oh, the one you told me about, who you said you pushed away,” Regina asked as she turned and sat down on the edge of the desk.

“How is this possible? All the kids in the world and the one I become friends with is the one my parents banished?”

“Emma, there are powers beyond our understanding and your parents messed with them.”

“So the only friend I ever had…wasn’t even my friend by choice.”

“I know. It hurts doesn’t it,” Regina gently said and nodded in understanding. “I’ve been there, too.”

“Yeah,” Emma asked and immediately looked up at her, a little hopeful that she wasn’t the only one who’d felt the way she did.

“You think it was a coincidence that I just so happened to adopt the Savior’s son? Our actions are our own, but fate pushes us. Maybe it’s time to push back.”

“How?”

“Well, I have to go to New York to save Robin Hood from my insane sister and you have to find this girl to redeem your parents. _And_ to show Gold he’s wrong about you, that he can’t change you. What do you say we help each other?”

“What, like a road trip?”

“If…that’s what you want to call it.”

Emma lightly laughed and said, “I’m okay, Regina. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“But maybe I need you.”

Emma perked up at those words. She was surprised Regina said them, surprised she’d heard them from anyone at all.

“You lived in New York and I’ve never even been outside of Storybrooke.”

Emma relaxed at little, but she also deflated a little as well. The reason behind Regina’s words made more sense than “Maybe I need you” did. Everything was right in the world again.

“How ‘bout it, Swan? How about we make today the day we both beat fate?”

She’d pushed back against people who’d told her who she was her whole life. She’d never pushed back against fate before, never thought she’d have to or that fate was even something to believe in. And then she thought about Regina and how nothing had ever seemed to go her way either, how no one had thought her to be the person she actually was. They’d all painted her as a villain even before she wore the dresses and the makeup and the attitude to match. They hadn’t stopped painting her that way even when she was a mayor and a mother and had started to help instead of hurt. She’d taken the better path and tried to change. She _had_ changed. Emma had been a witness to it for over a year. She’d seen Regina relapse and rise up again. Regina deserved a chance to rage against fate and Emma decided she wanted to be there when Regina finally won.

“Okay,” Emma agreed as easy as breathing and smiled at Regina who smiled so warmly and openly at her.

Regina was right. Fate was a bitch. Time to make it theirs.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't the tearful goodbye at the town line when Emma and Henry drove off to New York with new memories and no recollection of Storybrooke or the family they left behind, but it wasn't a regular goodbye either. Gold was still in town and even if Regina had some kind of leverage over him, she wasn't sure Henry would be completely safe from whatever mishaps took place in her absence. For example, there was an upset dragon and a woman who—recently used as nothing more than a pawn—could control animals even if they were also partly human as long as she breathed on them, and a woman with eight extra limbs who'd very nearly lost someone she loved. The person at the center of all their problems was none other than Gold.

So Emma made sure to squeeze a little tighter than usual when she hugged Henry goodbye. She knew she'd probably return to him within the next day or two, no longer than forty-eight hours away from him, but maybe the hug wasn't as much for him as it was for her. She was still a little restrained after her last couple of failed attempts to impose violence on people she felt were a threat and a necessary evil to rid the world of and she was about to run off to New York with Regina to save a man she wasn't particularly fond of from Zelena. She was willing to help and tag along, even before she found out that her old friend Lily was also on the agenda while they were out of town, but she still didn't understand what Regina saw in the forest-lover. As far as Emma knew, Regina may have grown up in the _Enchanted_ Forest, but she didn't strike Emma as the type to like long strolls through the dirt and heat or late night chill. She was royalty through and through and while Regina could have very well liked and appreciated nature, Emma was certain that woman would hate camping.

But it didn't matter. She was there to help, not to share her blunt and bold and out of line opinion. She also had a daughter to return, one whom she owed a favor and an apology. For all the lies Lily told and for all that it cost her, Emma understood what had been done to the girl thanks to her family was much worse than the fate she herself had suffered.

That was the number one reason why she refused to hug her parents. When she thought she'd suffocated Henry enough, especially since Regina didn't seem to have gotten the most out of her first hug with him and went back for a second, she gave a parting hug to Hook. For the first time, the feel of him pressed against her with his arms wrapped around her upper back felt strange and not quite right. It wasn't really a comfort. Not like Henry's hug had been, not like Regina's hand—though it had been gloved at the time—in hers had felt at the town line the previous year. It was just...off. She pushed those feelings and any potential doubts aside and smiled at him when she stepped back from the hug. Then her mother tried to swoop in for her own hug and Emma took another step back.

Her smile, as fake as it might have been to begin with, faded and while she didn't really glare at her mother, she certainly didn’t give the other woman a reason to feel warm and fuzzy inside either. Thankfully, her father knew not to come near her. He had stayed rooted in his place behind Snow and his mouth formed a straight line, a neutral expression in her opinion, even though his eyes conveyed the sadness he was already resigned to when he realized she wasn't going to come to them for a proper goodbye.

She turned away from her parents before they could even say anything to her about her hurtful brushoff and flashed another smile at Henry on her way to the Bug. Regina walked alongside her for a moment before she crossed behind her to put herself on the passenger's side and the two of them slid into the car at almost the same rate as each other. They hadn't even left Storybrooke and they were already in sync, which was probably fortunate for them because Emma had a feeling they would need to be on the same page to survive whatever awaited them past the spray painted town line.

The doors rattled when they closed and seconds later, Emma turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled and roared to life. Her beat up, old Beetle was a clunker, but it had lasted her several years without too many issues. She'd driven it through state after state after state, hit the Storybrooke welcome sign when she'd skidded off the road on her way out of town, and the windshield had been busted while she'd floored it and abruptly slammed on the brakes to throw the Chernabog over the town line where it would cease to exist. That hadn't even included any of the time she'd driven it around with Neal both before and after she'd finally managed to figure out how to fluidly drive stick.

Inside the car, she hesitated only a moment as she took a deep breath and heavily sighed in exhale. She felt Regina's eyes on her a second later, but she didn't turn to meet the other woman's gaze. Instead, she pulled out her phone and looked up the information about Lily she'd done research on after she found out it was her old pal from her early days as a runaway.

"So, the last known address I could find for Lily is from five years ago in Lowell, Massachusetts. Which...actually, isn't too far from where I was staying five years ago."

Emma furrowed her brow and crinkled her nose as she thought about that for a moment. It seemed odd the date and place matched up almost perfectly even though five years ago she still hadn't seen Lily since she left her at that bus stop when they were younger.

"I told you, fate's a bitch and a power beyond our understanding," Regina reminded her.

Emma shook it off and set her phone aside before she shifted into gear and drove off.

For the first ten minutes, everything was fine. She was a little tense, her nails pressed into the worn material of the steering wheel and her knuckles were white, but the silence wasn't completely uncomfortable. Until they drove down the long stretch of road toward the world beyond Storybrooke. The "Now Leaving" sign was up ahead, still too far in the distance to read the words clearly, and Emma felt the shift in the air inside the Bug. Tension quickly filled the loud hunk of reliable metal and Emma immediately noted it didn't have anything to do with the impending loss of magic when they crossed the bright orange line on the pavement. Well, maybe not _entirely_ because of the oncoming loss.

She glanced over at Regina to see stiff, raised shoulders, slightly wide, chocolate colored eyes, and a hand latched onto the car door for dear life. She wouldn't have said Regina looked terrified, but she would have definitely said the other woman felt unprepared and ready to bolt.

"Hey," Emma gently broke the silence as the distance between them and the town line closed even further. "You think Henry's gotten over the whole 'ick' phase when it comes to girls?"

She curled her lips into a smile just in time for Regina to turn and regard her before she even thought to answer the question.

"Was there _ever_ an 'ick' phase?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I think so. Most kids think the opposite sex has cooties and won't bother to even talk to them in case they catch them."

"Cooties," Regina scoffed. "No one here, even when they were cursed, has ever worried about cooties. That's something _your_ world invented."

"So...what's holding Henry back from having a crush?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's working hard at school."

"He's twelve. What does he have to work hard for? Two times five equals ten?"

"I didn't raise him to be a playboy."

Emma laughed and loosened her grip on the wheel. Her trick to take Regina's mind off the town line and what crossing it meant for them and their magic had worked. For both of them. Emma wasn't worried about the loss of her magic. She wasn't worried about the world that awaited them on the other side of Storybrooke. She knew what it was like. She was used to that world and had survived it without magic before so she could certainly do it again. But she had, however, been too focused on Lily and Robin and how both situations would play out.

That was until her plan to distract Regina long enough to cross the town line without dread or fear had served as a distraction for her as well. She'd managed to focus on Regina instead of the potential problems ahead during their road trip and both women had passed over the line without even realizing it. Emma was the first to notice moments after it happened though, but she waited to bring it to the other woman's attention for at least another mile.

"You definitely raised a kid _I'm_ proud of," Emma said with a smile and kept her eyes on the road.

There were a few seconds of silence before Regina softly and slowly, almost a little unsure by the sound of her voice, replied, "Thank you."

"Although, I have to wonder when we'll start having to worry about girlfriends," Emma continued. "I'm sure none of them will be good enough for Henry by your standards."

"I can't say whether or not they are until I meet them," Regina explained and seemed to pick at something near the hem of her black dress.

"Well, I'm just thinking no one could be good enough for the mayor's son, right," she teasingly asked.

"You seem to think I would push away all his girlfriends simply because I wouldn't like them. Do you also think I don't want to see him happy?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all. You're just...you."

"‘Me’. And how exactly am I, Miss Swan?"

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes at the cold and professional title that wasn't used in the endearing way it had when she'd brought Regina kale salad and root beer for lunch.

"You're strong and beautiful and smart and that makes it hard for anyone to compete with," Emma confessed and wrung her hands on the steering wheel for a moment like a biker revving their engine.

Silence fell over them again and that time Emma felt Regina's eyes bore into her very soul. The other woman invaded her thoughts and feelings and all she had to do was look at her, even if Emma didn't have the opportunity, or inner strength, to meet her gaze.

Emma cleared her throat and figured it was as good a time as any to mention they were out of Storybrooke and still perfectly fine.

“So, congratulations are in order.”

“Excuse me?”

“You survived the climate change from Storybrooke to the magic-less depths of plain, old Maine.”

Regina’s eyes shifted off her and looked around at the surrounding trees through the windshield and passenger window. At one point she even turned and looked through the rear window to see the long road behind them where the barrier between them and Storybrooke remained hidden in plain sight.

“We’re out of Storybrooke,” Regina mused out loud.

“Yep,” Emma brightly smiled and quickly glanced at Regina whose eyes were on the road in front of them.

“Now that I take a moment, I can’t feel my magic,” Regina added.

“And the world didn’t end,” Emma said. “See? We’re okay. Nothing to freak out about.”

“I wasn’t freaking out,” Regina defensively argued, a little stiff and huffy.

Emma laughed and sarcastically replied, “Sure, you weren’t.”

She didn’t see Regina roll her eyes, but she noticed her smooth out the bottom half of her dress out of the corner of her eye. She hesitated, considered what she wanted and was about to say, before she spoke up again.

“So, why are you wearing a dress?”

“I normally wear dresses,” Regina answered.

“Lately, sure, but before? You didn’t wear them as often. I still remember the hard ass Madam Mayor in all her pantsuits and on occasion you’d wear dresses and maybe a pencil skirt or two. But back then all those dresses were different.”

“What are you talking about? A dress is a dress.”

“No. No, they aren’t,” Emma shook her head. “There are dresses like that gray dress of yours and then there are the tight and bold colored, and some black, dresses you wear now. Actually, you’ve been wearing those kinds of dresses since Henry and I came back from New York.”

Emma hadn’t noticed the timing before, but when she took the time to think about it she realized Regina wore more dresses ever since the woman had returned from the Enchanted Forest. And Emma remembered that when she left with Henry, there was no Robin Hood in Storybrooke. When they came back, Robin and Roland were a couple of the newest townspeople swept up in the second—or was it third?—curse. Were the dresses for Robin? Had she really been trying to impress or attract him ever since they returned from their year in the Enchanted Forest?

Emma frowned at the thought.

“You remember my gray dress,” Regina asked.

Emma jumped out of her head and came back to the conversation. She furrowed her brow, confused by Regina’s question because—

“Of course I remember.”

Regina looked over at her and she felt the woman’s attention stay on her as if the brunette wouldn’t look away until Emma expanded upon her answer.

“You wore it the night we met,” Emma said after the silence stretched on a little too long.

“Why would you remember that?”

“Uh, because that was a significant night. In _both_ of our lives. It was the night Henry changed everything for us. Forever.”

“But…what did my dress have anything to do with that?”

Regina had a point. Emma had never thought of that before.

“I guess…because it was my first impression of the woman who’d raised my offspring? I’d hoped that when I gave him she’d find a good home unlike me and then I saw you and where you lived, all that you’d provided for him. It was a memorable night. Are you saying you don’t remember any details like that from when we met?”

“Well, I remember you wore that loud, red jacket. But who could forget that? It was bright and leather. _Cheap_ leather.”

“Excuse me,” Emma asked with a scoff, offended. “I’ll have you know that jacket wasn’t cheap. At all! But I guess you’d know more about leather than anyone, _your Majesty_.”

“My attire as a queen was impeccable and very fitting for my station in life,” Regina insisted with a pointed finger, her eyes on the road instead of Emma.

“It wasn’t an insult,” Emma said with a small smile. “I was stating a fact.”

“I think you spend too much time thinking about what I wear.”

“Look at your clothes. Can you blame me,” Emma rhetorically asked before she could reconsider her words and choose to say something—anything—else.

She clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes, tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She was definitely an idiot. She had basically admitted to checking Regina out.

“Apparently, you look at my clothes enough for the both of us,” Regina teased with a smirk.

Emma had no response. She smiled a fake smile, forced and definitely strained, because she really did spend way too much time staring at Regina’s wardrobe choices. And she had inadvertently let Regina in on that secret. She also didn’t really like being made fun of, especially when one of her vulnerabilities was picked at like the center of someone else’s joke.

Regina didn’t seem to notice anything was amiss and both women chose to listen to the sound of the open road as it passed them by. It was a natural, comfortable silence and Emma didn’t resent or hate or harbor any other ill feelings toward Regina for her teasing. Everything was fine between them. Nothing had changed between them and it was something Emma could count on. Their back and forth, their bickering and their playfulness, their heavy jabs and their friendly observations. There was no tension in the Bug because everything was right and well with the two of them.

For the next couple of hours, Regina relaxed in her seat until she seemed calm enough to fall asleep. Emma occasionally looked over and checked on the brunette. She had seen enough of Regina recently, even considering how long she’d been off the grid, to understand that Regina hadn’t gotten much rest either. Emma wasn’t the only one exhausted it seemed. So she let Regina curl up on the slightly tattered, definitely aged, leather seat and sleep. The longer they were on the road, the further Regina shifted into positions that made her look right at home in Emma’s car. It was a completely different side of Regina. It was like seeing the other woman barefoot in her own home with a glass of wine, attention set on a storybook in search for its Author. It felt like years since Emma had forced her way into the mansion for research as part of Operation Mongoose.

Thoughts like that, memories of that night with Regina and Henry, led her to brush hair out of the other woman’s face when she saw that several strands had fallen over Regina’s closed eyes. In response, Regina scrunched up her nose and groaned as she tucked her head into her shoulder and chest. For that moment, that one small and simple moment, Emma didn’t hear a million different voices in her head as they rushed to fuel the fire of her insecurities and concerns. For that moment, everything was even quieter than the hum of the car that filled the space between her and Regina.

She took a deep breath and sighed as she pulled her hand away from Regina. She grabbed the steering wheel again and continued to drive, her eyes mostly on the road except for the glances she chanced at the still sleeping brunette.

She was used to long road trips and prolonged stakeouts so she was also used to the lack of entertainment to help pass the time. She had music on her phone she could listen to if she really needed something to occupy her, but Regina had only been asleep for about half an hour. Regina had been hit a few times before and she figured even with the magical healing it probably took a lot out of the woman. Emma wanted to respect her and resisted any music or other disruptive ways to fill the conversational void.

They had another two hours to Lowell and Emma was surprised to see that Regina slept most of the way there. She was also surprised to see that every so often Regina twitched in her sleep. Sometimes the brunette grumbled and more than once she turned and squirmed in the passenger’s seat. It was kind of adorable.

When there was only ten miles left to Lowell, Regina sucked in a deep breath through her nose and started to wake up. She moaned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up. Regina flicked her hands through her hair a few times and then cleared her throat.

The brunette took a quick glance around the car from the view out of the passenger's side window and the windshield and finally across from her at Emma behind the wheel. She looked slightly disoriented and Emma had to stifle a laugh at how amusing it was to see the other woman try to get her bearings.

"How long was I out," Regina asked.

"Pretty much the entire drive. We're almost there. Lily's place is maybe about five minutes away."

Regina ran a hand through her hair and sniffed, still groggy and in the process of coming back to the waking world.

Emma smiled a little as she turned and kept her eyes focused on the road for the next few miles and silence, once again, settled between them. Only a few more minutes, no more than ten, passed before Emma pulled up to a run down and dingy looking apartment complex. It didn't take long to find a parking space just outside the place—either because not many people were around during the day or because there weren’t a lot of people living in the hovel of an apartment complex at all—and soon she and Regina were out of the car and on their way to the entrance.

She stopped outside the main door and looked at the call box for a couple of seconds before she pressed an entire row of buttons in the hopes that one of the residents would buzz her in. After about five or six, one of them did.

"Yeah? Who is it," a cranky woman's voice filtered through the call box.

"Hi, sorry to bother you. I left my key at a friend's place? Anyway, can you let me in?"

"Yeah, yeah," the woman grumbled before the door buzzed.

Emma didn't waste any time to yank open the door, sure that if she was a second too slow she'd miss her opportunity to get inside, and held the door open for Regina.

Regina was a little startled at the chivalry, but walked ahead of Emma and waited in the small room lined with mail boxes on either wall while Emma came in behind her.

Emma opened the second door to the complex and took the hint that Regina didn't feel comfortable to take the lead so she stepped in front and reached behind herself to hold the door until the other woman had a hand on it so it wouldn't swing closed in her face. She walked toward the stairs and heard the muted thumps of Regina's heels on the carpet close behind as she pulled out her phone and checked the address again. She needed the third floor and she doubted the building had a working elevator. Sad news for the brunette who refused to wear sensible shoes. Ever. But with Lily possibly so close, her focus shifted and narrowed on the woman she hadn't seen since that night at the bus stop.

She took a deep breath as she opened the door to the stairwell and only glanced over her shoulder at Regina to make sure the woman continued to keep up. Then she anxiously climbed the stairs, still only one at a time yet almost at a jog. She wasn't in a hurry, but her nerves insisted she act like shaving a minute off of her time to get to Lily's apartment would ensure the other woman was there. She wasn't sure why it mattered so much to her. She wanted to help Maleficent get her daughter back, especially since her parents--and partly her--were the reason Lily had been lost to her for so many years, but her urgency wasn't about Maleficent at all.

Emma had barely taken in the appearance of the first floor, but as soon as she stepped out of the stairwell and onto the third floor she slowed down. Her eyes shifted from wall to wall and she frowned with sadness and distaste at the atrocious state of the building. Even when Emma was at her lowest when living in various apartments, her buildings never looked as wrecked at the one she stood in at that moment.

The wallpaper was ripped, peeling, and yellowed from dirt and grime after years of abuse without cleaning. The blinds over the window at the end of the hall were bent if they weren't missing and the place smelled heavily of smoke and multiple litter boxes. There was at least one person on that floor that had the stove on and helped masked the putrid odor that was still detectable, but probably smelled worse when someone wasn't slaving over a hot meal. That didn't mean it mixed well with the lived in stench of the place, however. Emma fought every urge she had not to scrunch up her nose and cringe at the horrible living conditions before her. As disgusted as she was at what she saw, she was more upset with herself that Lily had grown up to live an even less appealing life than herself. It was worse when she thought about how much of her parents' fault that might have been and the fact that she hadn't stuck by her friend when the girl could have used some support.

Just as she and Regina cautiously rounded the corner toward another hallway, both women witnessed an older man with wild brown hair pass by the other end. He wore a sweat-stained tank top underneath an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt and bit his nails while he appeared to be in deep concentration. The only other people Emma had ever seen look like that were homeless people that wandered the streets. They were the ones that never begged for money, but always talked to themselves and practically lived at bus stops in the seedier parts of major cities.

"Why did I go through the trouble of creating Storybrooke when I could have just cursed everyone to live here," Regina rhetorically asked, her voice deep after so recently waking up.

Emma ignored the question and looked around at the floor for a moment before her eyes scanned over one of the doors. She checked the number and confirmed it matched the one she had then raised a closed fist and knocked on the door.

"Yeah," the man that passed by them answered and walked toward them.

His brow was knit like he was either confused or not in the mood to deal with people and Emma took a step back from the door before she faced him with squared shoulders, her feet apart.

"We're just looking for Lilith Page? Is she around," Emma asked.

"No, she ain't around. Not for years," he answered as his expression changed, but just slightly, to convey more suspicion and confusion than anger.

"You know where she moved," Emma asked as she continued to look around the place, her eyes focused predominately on his open apartment nearby.

"Lady, she ain't moving nowhere. She's dead," he explained.

Slowly, Emma felt her heart sink and her blood run cold.

"What," she softly asked, afraid to hear anything more from him but desperate for some answers.

"Car wreck a few years ago," he replied. "Pretty sure she was drunk. Not that anyone missed her. She was a weird one."

Emma's pain and sadness faded as she narrowed her eyes at the man. She glared at him as he continued to speak about Lily like he was so much better than her. Lily had never been weird and that guy was the definition of the word.

"She kept to herself most of the time. 'Course she had one of those personalities you wanted to stay _far_ away from," the man told her, his voice low and raspy. "A real loser."

Emma lost it. After so many years of being unloved, unwanted, and tossed aside, she understood more than anyone what it was like to be in Lily's shoes. No one ever understood people like her and Lily, the people that felt different and lost because they didn't fit in. She bared her teeth and nearly growled as she reached out and balled her fists into his tank top.

"She was my friend," Emma yelled in his face and aggressively shoved him up against the nearest wall.

Emma reeled her arm back and her fist still clenched and ready to punch his lights out, but next to her stood a voice of reason.

"Emma. Emma!"

Regina ran up beside her and reached out as if to physically stop her from throwing the punch, but Emma never felt the other woman's hands on her.

"Emma," Regina carefully and slowly started to speak. "It's not worth it."

Regina continued to remain close and yet keep her distance at the same time. Emma had a one track mind at that moment, but after a short while she let Regina's words sink in and decided to drop her arm to her side. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she released the man's tank top and silently agreed with Regina that he really wasn't worth the trouble. Once she was a little calmer, she also silently appreciated that Regina didn't touch her and Emma never had to explain to the woman—not once—that she didn't like to be touched when she was angry. Regina just knew.

Emma kept her fiery glare directed at the man for a long moment after she let him go. It took him only seconds to slip away from her and retreat into his apartment and she turned her head to track his movements the entire time, but only truly moved past the moment when he closed his door.

She swiftly spun on her heels and went back the way she came, frustrated and still keyed up by the aggravating man that knew absolutely nothing. She briskly jogged her way back down the stairs and didn't hear Regina's heels as closely behind her that time as she made her hasty exit.

She made it back to the Bug and slammed the door shut about a minute before she even witnessed Regina come out of the apartment building. By the time Regina slid into the passenger's seat and shot her a look of both concern and slight anger for the way Emma handled the situation, Emma already had the engine running. Her foot was on the break, ready to shift into gear and get the hell out of there.

Regina opened her mouth and sucked in a breath in an attempt to say something to her, but Emma didn't let her get a single syllable out before she gunned it out of the parking lot and hit the open road again. They still had to get to Robin Hood and she wasn't thrilled about Lily's apparent death any more so than she was interested in seeing the man that had both lit up and crushed Regina in recent weeks.

“Want to talk about what happened back there,” Regina asked.

“Nope.”

“You nearly put that guy through a wall.”

“I know what you’re thinking. That wasn’t me back there turning dark. That was mourning a friend. Can you understand that?”

“Emma, you know you’re not responsible for what happened to her.”

“You sure? You heard what that guy said. Her life wasn’t pretty. It was dark. That darkness was meant for me. Or it could have been or—”

“Emma!”

Suddenly, she looked out the windshield and spotted what Regina had: a gray wolf in the middle of the road, right in front of her car. She veered to the left and skidded into the dying grass on the side of the road. For a moment, she felt the car lift off two of its wheels. Thankfully, all four tires were back on the ground by the time the car stopped completely.

She puffed out a sigh and watched as the wolf ran away into the grass on the other side of the road, but not before it whimpered and lowered its head as its yellow eyes stared at her. It slipped between two small trees and then disappeared around a corner as she and Regina got out of the Bug.

“Are you okay,” Regina asked.

“This has happened before. When I first tried to leave Storybrooke,” Emma explained.

Her eyes were on where the wolf had run off to, but she heard a thump near where Regina stood.

“Stop overthinking. It’s not fate. It’s just a flat. You need a new tire.”

Emma wasn’t so quick to believe that. Too much had happened since she arrived in the magical little town hidden from the rest of the world.

“Unless fate wants you to go the Coffee Mug diner for help,” Regina started to say, “chalk it up to ‘accidents will happen.’ I’ll get a tire, you get some coffee.”

She hunched over a little and tensed while Regina walked off in the direction of the gas station. She felt uneasy and her stomach flipped a few times with the sense of déjà vu, but after a moment she took a deep breath and relaxed enough to head over to the Coffee Mug as Regina suggested.

The gas station and diner were right next to each other so she caught up with Regina just before the two of them split up. Regina went to the left while she went to the right, into a small diner with yellow signage and a single waitress inside in a yellow T-shirt and an apron tied around her waist.

“Hey,” she greeted the other woman, light brown hair that cascaded past the woman’s shoulders and covered her chest.

“Hey,” the waitress replied as Emma pulled out a chair and settled into a table.

“Two cups of coffee and a pack of Advil,” Emma ordered and phrased it like a partial question while she kept her eyes worriedly fixated on the tabletop. “Make that two packs.”

The waitress brought two tall travel cups to the table and set them down before she started to pour a full pot into the cups.

“Tough day,” the waitress asked.

“You don’t know the half of it,” she answered and stared blankly ahead as she watched the coffee flow from the pot into the to-go cups.

“I’ll leave the pot here then,” the waitress said.

As the other woman finished pouring the second cup, Emma noticed the roll of her wrist and a familiar birthmark came into view. It was a star. She’d never once met anyone else with a star-shaped birthmark except for one girl she had a complicated history with.

She stared and stared at the mark as the waitress placed the pot behind the cups on the table and after a few long seconds, she looked up to stare at the woman. For the first time since she came into the place, she looked—really looked—at the waitress.

The hair was a little lighter, the woman was of course taller and older, lips a little fuller, but when she looked into those near onyx eyes she knew. The waitress’ nametag said “Starla”, but there was no denying that she was looking at Lily.

Faintly, she registered the jingle of the bell above the door as someone else entered, but her focus was on the waitress.

“I’ll be right back with your Advil,” the waitress said as headed back to the counter, Emma’s eyes on her the entire way.

“Car’s being towed in,” Regina said as she walked around the table and took the seat across from her.

She turned and stared at Regina with wide eyes, so baffled by everything and still a little disbelieving to see the woman she was told had died.

“What’s wrong,” Regina asked. “See another wolf?”

“It’s…it’s her,” she quietly said and leaned over the table.

“Who,” Regina asked.

“Lily,” she whispered. “The waitress. It’s _Lily_.”

Regina briefly furrowed her brow before she turned and looked at the woman behind the counter as she retrieved the Advil that Emma requested.

“ _That_ is Mal’s daughter,” Regina asked as she looked from Lily to Emma.

Emma nodded.

“Well, I’ll admit, she has her mother’s good looks,” Regina said more to herself.

She narrowed her eyes and glared at the brunette.

“What? I’m not allowed to say that? It’s true,” Regina added.

Lily came back to their table and handed Emma the Advil.

“Thanks,” Emma said and forced a small smile.

Lily responded with a flash of a smile as well before she went back to work.

“So…what do you want to do,” Regina asked and picked up one of the coffee cups. “About her, I mean.”

“I…I don’t know. I thought…”

Regina gave her a sad, sympathetic smile and said, “I know.”

“I’m gonna sound insane if I just tell her everything,” she explained.

“Then don’t tell her everything.”

“I guess…maybe if I just tell her that I found her mom? She talked about her a couple of times when we were younger.”

Regina hummed and gave a slight nod of encouragement.

“For now, I suggest you enjoy your coffee and calm down a little before we head back out,” Regina told her.

She sighed and frowned as she grabbed a few sugar packets on the table to dump into her coffee. In response to that move, Regina groaned and scrunched up her face in disgust.

“Why must you ruin a good cup of coffee with all that sugar?”

“Why must you refuse to enjoy a little sweetness in your life? Black coffee is bitter, like most of the things you’ve said and done since I met you,” she teased, though she wasn’t wrong in her assessment.

Regina rolled her eyes and continued to sip at her coffee.

Underneath the table, Emma felt Regina cross her legs. The only reason she felt that was because Regina’s foot ended up grazing one of her shins. She balled up her fists and sucked in a quick but deep breath when it happened. She kept her mouth shut about the contact made, however, because it seemed she was the only one to notice it happened. She figured that maybe Regina thought she’d hit the leg of the table so she wasn’t going to make things awkward by correcting her about that.

She stirred her coffee and tried to keep it together when she felt Regina’s foot brush against the side of her calf. She cleared her throat instinctively and looked up to see that Regina’s attention wasn’t on anything other than her coffee and their surroundings. The brunette was seemingly completely oblivious to whatever was going on under the table.

She wrapped both hands around her to-go cup and just kept the cup on the table as she tried to remain unaffected by Regina and her stupid foot on her own stupid leg. She stayed completely frozen from the waist down so her leg didn’t move and alert Regina to the fact that her foot didn’t actually rest against the table leg. With the way Regina gave no indication that she knew what she was doing, Emma worried that if Regina finally understood because of something she did then the other woman might be embarrassed. She wanted to avoid that. And if she liked how close she was to Regina in that moment, so be it.

“Are you hungry,” Regina asked and snapped Emma out of her thoughts.

“Uh, I guess?”

“This might be the last stop we make for a while and your mood tells me you probably haven’t eaten in a while.”

“My mood? Are you calling me cranky?”

“That’s your word, not mine,” Regina noted with a raised brow and took another sip of coffee.

Emma released her coffee and instead drummed her fingers on the tabletop.

“You would know,” she muttered, but in the small and nearly empty space Regina heard her with perfect clarity and pointedly stared at her.

She licked her lips and chose that moment to have her first sip of coffee. Her lips curled into a smile around the rim of the cup and she tried not to laugh at how much their conversation reminded her of the old times between them, back when hate was a strong word but they definitely didn’t get along.

Regina waved Lily over who then casually approached the table.

“Do you have bearclaws here,” Regina asked.

“Yeah. They aren’t the greatest, but they’re for sure bearclaws,” Lily answered.

“Any muffins or bagels?”

“Got those, too. We only have regular bagels, but we’ve got blueberry, banana nut, and apple cinnamon muffins.”

“Apple cinnamon,” Emma asked.

“Yeah, kind of an odd flavor for a muffin, but that’s what you get in a place like this. Odd.”

“We’ll take a blueberry muffin and a bearclaw please,” Regina said.

Lily nodded and went to grab their food.

“Who said I wanted a bearclaw,” Emma asked when Lily was out of earshot.

“Your taste in food, your growling stomach, and that glazed over look of pure joy in your eyes as soon as I asked her about them,” Regina replied as she gathered up Emma’s ripped up and emptied sugar packets.

She watched the brunette sweep the discarded mess off to the side of the table and then dust off the extra sugar that apparently transferred from the packets to her hands. A couple minutes later, Lily returned with their donut and muffin and Regina shifted in her seat. Emma then no longer felt the other woman’s foot lightly pressed against her leg. She missed the feeling a bit, but she really didn’t want to admit that. She had a boyfriend and Regina was only on the road trip to get to Robin Hood, her soulmate and assumed happy ending.

“Here you go,” Lily said as she set two plates down in front of them.

“Thank you,” Regina said before Lily left their table again.

When it was just the two of them, Regina pushed the plate with the bearclaw toward her before the woman even touched the muffin.

Emma had to wonder why Regina was being so nice and considerate. And helpful. It was strange but comforting.

“Thanks,” she said as she grabbed her bearclaw.

“You’re welcome,” Regina replied with her gaze first directed at her food before she looked up at Emma and flashed another quick smile.

For a moment, even with Lily right there and a gut feeling that trouble was still ahead, Emma felt like everything would work out. Regina had a peculiar but welcome effect on her and she realized all at once that she was glad Regina had that effect and never wanted that to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how many chapters are left in this story, but I don't expect this fic to last any more than 20 chapters so we're closing in on the ending. Thank you for continuing to follow this story and give me your feedback. It's been and continues to be much appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay. Hopefully the chapter makes up for it.

"You think she'll really do anything to hurt him," Emma suddenly asked and at first, Regina was confused. "Robin. Do you think she'll do anything Gold tells her?"

"Oh. As long as it makes me unhappy, yes," she admitted. "You've seen what she's like; just to spite me."

Emma nodded and rolled her fingertips together to brush leftover crumbs off of them.

"What about a kid? Like Roland? You think she'd hurt him, especially if she tries to take Robin out of the picture?"

Regina stiffened instantly. She'd considered Roland before, of course, but she had no idea what her sister was capable of when it came to children.

"I don't know," she sadly confessed. "I would hope not, but I suppose anything is possible."

Regina struggled and failed to relax after that point. She was faced with the reality that the clock was ticking ten times faster than it would have been if Robin's life was the only one in danger. At least Robin could attempt to defend himself, even if someone without magic was no match for someone who had it. Roland didn't even understand the concept of how and when to protect himself and if Robin was no longer around to ensure the boy was protected, Roland would surely suffer.

"Hey," Emma said and reached across the table to place a hand on hers. "I didn't mean to worry you more. It was a...well, it was kind of an important question, but I should've waited to ask."

"Waited until when, Emma? In case you haven't noticed we both have quite a few things to take care of on this trip," Regina replied and even glanced over in Lily's direction behind the counter to solidify her point. "There's no better time than as soon as possible to discuss things we need to face sooner rather than later."

"And now you're back to being rational and closed off and very diplomatic," Emma noted with a disapproving look. "I thought I was the only one that should be brooding on this trip."

"But here we are."

Emma nodded again.

"Yep. Here we are."

Just when they seemed to have reached a stalemate, Regina felt Emma's thumb caress the back of her hand and forced her to acknowledge that the blonde's hand still rested on her own. She sucked in a deep breath and her hand flinched beneath Emma's touch. She looked up and locked eyes with the other woman and there was a flicker of something in green eyes that told her Emma had felt her twitch.

"You really care about both of them, don't you," Emma asked, but it sounded more like a statement she had just come to realize.

"Of course I do. Neither one of them has done anything wrong. Whatever Zelena's planning she's had her mind set on it even before she agreed to work with Rumple. And it's always, _always_ been about getting back at me for living the life she thinks she wanted."

"And you've tried to explain to her how awful Cora was, haven't you?"

"A few times, yes. But that doesn't matter to Zelena. She thinks our mother loved me more, _wanted_ me more. Maybe that's something you can understand having grown up in the foster system."

Emma didn't nod or move a single muscle. She kept her hand on top of Regina's and just listened.

"You were cast aside again and again. So was she. You were around people that could have cared— _should_ have cared—about you, but they didn't. She's lived through that too. Both of you have suffered and when you trace it all back to the very beginning, it's my fault."

"What? No. Sure, the curse that forced my parents to make a decision was your fault. Because it was your choice to go through with it, but you didn't make my parents’ choice for them. _You_ weren't the one to send me away.

"And Zelena? How the _hell_ is any of her miserable life your fault? You weren't even born when her problems first started. I mean, she's older, isn't she?"

"Isn't it my fault, though? Even when I haven't hurt anyone like I once did, people still get hurt _because of me_."

Emma let out a frustrated sigh.

"Regina, listen to me. Zelena is the one that continues to act out. She thinks you deserved to be punished for something your mom did to _both_ of you. It is _not_ because of you that Robin and Roland could be in danger. Anything that happens, no matter what Zelena's reasons for doing them, are all on her."

"Then why am I having such a hard time believing that?"

"Because you don't see what I see."

Regina frowned.

"And what do you see?"

"That you’re a good person and you are _so_ much better than Zelena. In every way. And that bitch is just jealous, which she should be."

Regina cracked a smile and when Emma smiled back she allowed herself to chuckle.

"Does that mean _you're_ jealous of me too," she asked.

"Maybe a little," Emma admitted with a playfully scrunched up expression. "You've got a body I'd kill for, powerful magic you can control one hundred percent of the time, and I'll say it again: you're so unbelievably strong."

Regina felt Emma's thumb move over her hand again and she gulped. She felt a small spark, a real and magical spark from the contact. Their eyes locked again while time moved slowly and everything else was just background. She didn't remember things being as intense with Robin, not like they always seemed to be with Emma. She remembers a fire and plenty of passion with Maleficent, but it wasn't the same. It was never the same with the Savior.

She removed herself from the moment in an instant and slipped her hand out from under Emma's. She placed hers in her lap and cleared her throat before she looked down at her almost, but not quite, finished breakfast. Everything shifted again between them and Regina started to feel uncomfortable. She hoped the awkwardness wouldn't last too long and thankfully for her it didn't. Before either women knew it, they caught sight of Lily just as she ditched her apron and started to head out through the back door. A new server took her place behind the counter and Emma and Regina had a chance to finally get moving again.

"I'll go check on the car," Regina said. "You deal with her."

Emma nodded as she slid out of her chair and the two of them stood up together before they ventured off to do what needed to be done.

* * *

When Regina got back into the recently fixed car with Emma—after breakfast and a little stalking between old friends, she was prepared to see and talk to the Emma that had been present with her at the table in the cramped diner. Instead, she got the determined Emma Swan from the first year they knew each other. It wasn't upsetting and it wasn't unusual, but she wasn't sure what would happen when they finally made it to Lily's new place. Because Emma's eyes were like steel and the fact that she'd snatched up a paper with her old friend's address on it when clearly Lily was fine with her new life—which Emma thought was a big fat lie—said Emma's attention was way too narrow if she still planned on carefully approaching Lily so she'd come back to Storybrooke with them.

After a few minutes, the two of them pulled up to a trailer with an older, metallic light blue model car parked nearby. The trailer and the area around it was a dump. Just as bad as, if not worse than, the apartment they'd visited earlier. But it definitely wasn't the most interesting thing about Lily. What was interesting happened to be taped all over the walls. There was an entire space dedicated to maps and pictures and theories and red strings that connected everything together, every piece of the puzzle that took Emma a very long time to understand and believe.

"She knew," Emma breathed out when she saw just how much information Lily had collected. "She must have known for a while because she wouldn't have all of this if she just figured it out. She knew before I tried to explain it to her today. She _does_ believe me. She _knows_."

Regina wasn't sure why she felt compelled to lay a hand on Emma's back or why she then rubbed circles between her shoulder blades to help keep the blonde calm once her hand was on the younger woman, but suddenly it was like she couldn't help it.

She looked over and saw Emma ball up her fists at her sides. The woman was tense from the neck down and even when she unclenched her fists it didn't last long before she curled and dug her nails into palms again.

"She lied to me. About everything!"

Regina slid her hand up Emma's back and gave one of the blonde's shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Why would she lie to me about knowing where we came from," Emma asked.

Regina didn't have an answer so she remained silent.

"I'm sorry," she quietly told Emma. "It doesn't seem fair that everyone's been lying to you lately."

"I just...don't get it. Why? Why is that even _true_ ," Emma asked and abruptly turned to face her.

Regina didn't have a chance to stop Emma, to soothe her the way she seemed to be able to do every so often, before she felt one of the blonde's fists pound against her chest.

"Tell me why you and everyone else think it's better I _don't_ know things," Emma snarled. With another pound of her fist she yelled, "Tell me!"

"Sometimes we do it to protect you."

"You keep saying that; 'to protect me.' It doesn't mean anything if nothing you do is working."

"You think I don't know that? I'm trying _everything_ , Emma. What do you want?"

"Honesty! How hard is it to just put it all out there?"

Emma huffed and panted and Regina had been too busy letting Emma slam her fists against her sternum to notice, but now that all she felt against her skin was the woman's hot breath against her lips she noticed how close the two of them were. They were toe to toe and everything was almost as it was when they were still enemies. Except both women knew that wasn't what they were to each other anymore.

Regina almost said something, almost tried to comfort Emma again in the off chance it would finally work that day, but a door creaked and then banged shut before a car door was slammed outside the trailer. An engine roared to life it sounded way too familiar to Regina's ears. It appeared the same rang true for Emma as she watched green eyes widen in realization before the blonde ran for the door.

The two of them hurried outside in just enough time to watch the bright yellow Bug drive off with Lily behind the wheel.

"Son of a bitch," Emma loudly grumbled before she set her sights on the blue muscle car and threw herself into the driver's seat.

Regina had no choice but to follow. She wasn't going to leave Emma alone with that kind of anger in her eyes and so much urgency in her movements, especially not after the woman understood that no one in her life wanted to tell the truth anymore. Especially not after both she and Emma found out that Lily actually knew everything about fairy tales and Storybrooke and she was also very possibly dangerous too. And the woman had just stolen Emma's most valued possession, if the way Emma talked about and defended her precious metal coffin told her anything, so she was sure that the younger woman was also ten times more volatile than ever. She didn't know what would happen if Emma went after Lily by herself, but Regina wanted to make sure that whatever Emma _wanted_ to do didn't become what Emma _did_.

In that moment, Emma clearly wanted to drive and wanted to do it fast. The blonde was so focused on the road ahead with her foot smashed down on the gas pedal that Regina was sure the other woman didn’t notice her wriggle and squirm in the passenger’s seat. At the time, their high speed chase felt like it would last a lifetime, but thankfully it came to sudden end.

When they barreled down the street in a stolen car and cut in front of the Bug like they were in Fast & Furious, she was glad she hadn't even hesitated to leave with Emma earlier. The blonde was on a path of destruction and frankly, Regina had seen it too many times in the last couple of days that Emma was just looking for a fight. She'd been denied one every single time and that probably had Emma worked up even more, which made it all that more important that she remain at Emma's side every step of the way. If she fell behind for even a second, it could very well have been the second a grave mistake was made.

“You screwed me over before we were even born,” Lily insisted.

“I had no more say in what happened than you did,” Emma argued, eyes wide and as upset as she was incredulous—or so it appeared to Regina—that her childhood friend would think something like that.

“But your parents did,” Lily started to speak a little more calmly but still just as seriously. “And the minute I get to Storybrooke—”

“You lay a hand on them, I end you,” Emma loudly growled out and shoved Lily onto the ground.

“Emma,” Regina warningly called out.

The fight between Emma and Lily seemed to reach a deeper level than old friends. Emma had been way too sad about Lily’s supposed death earlier and then the way they talked about how Lily had known for a long time about where they both came from and withheld that information, it seemed like a lover betrayed. It all sounded so familiar to Regina as well. She figured it just had to be the way Emma had of communicating with other women that she had a complicated history with, which was completely normal. But then Emma had shoved Lily and all bets were off. Regina could see the pent up energy and anger she’d been forced to tamp down over the past few days while old anger arose as well.

It didn’t matter what had happened between Emma and Lily. Emma was dangerous and the blonde would stop at nothing to hurt Lily if it came down to it.

“Yeah,” Lily asked and pushed herself off the ground. “And how’re you gonna do that without your magic, Savior?”

Lily threw the first punch and Regina heard the thud and crunch of knuckles connecting with Emma’s cheekbone.

The headlights on the Bug shattered and lightning charged through the skies, but there wasn’t a single storm coming. At least none the meteorologists could predict. The storm was magical and emotional and came as a huge shock to Regina that it was even possible outside of Storybrooke.

“Your parents banished me and threw you in a wardrobe. And now here you are, ready to die for them because you’re so perfect. The _Savior_. That’s what they made you and they used me to do it. They _forced_ me to be something else just so they could have their pretty little princess so righteous and always willing and able to save the day. They deserve to be punished. There’s only one way to stop me and you know it.”

Lily lunged forward and tried to attack Emma again, but the blonde swung them around and threw Lily onto the ground again.

Regina took a step forward in case she had the opportunity to break up the fight, but the second she moved so did Lily. And in the blink of an eye, Emma pulled her gun on the woman they’d come to find. It wasn't the gun Emma had given to her before she'd been pulled away from her solo trip to New York when Henry's life was threatened. Emma had more than one gun it seemed and she'd let Regina keep the one she'd given her, but made sure to bring her own as well. Regina was sure that as she watched Emma point the gun at Lily's chest that two guns and their current situation were excessive. That wasn't how any of it was supposed to go. Lily might have been a little frustrating, but she was still Maleficent's daughter and Emma was still good. Or she still _could_ be. Regina had gone out of her way to avoid their current predicament. She'd even stopped Emma from killing Cruella, even when it really felt like Henry was in serious danger.

“Of course it ends this way. It makes too much sense,” Lily said.

“I’m just trying to stop you from doing something you’ll regret,” Emma replied.

Her hands on the gun were as steady as her voice and it actually frightened Regina, more than she thought possible.

“You can’t! Thanks to you I’m hardwired for bad decisions,” Lily explained. “So come on. Put me out of my misery. You know the truth. We both know my life isn’t worth _saving_. And if you let me go, I will _destroy everything_. So come on, be the hero. And end this right here before it even starts.”

Emma appeared to strongly consider that option and there was no way Regina was going to let _Lily_ convince Emma to do and be something she wasn’t. Emma could be angry and she could be very hurt, but she wasn’t—and would never be—a killer. She could be violent and she could wish bad things on people, but she’d never end someone’s life the way Maleficent’s daughter demanded hers to be ended.

Slowly, she stepped forward. Her hands were wide open as her palms faced the ground and she didn’t say a single word—not yet—as she carefully approached the two of them.

Lily begged once more and spread her arms like she was making a cathartic sacrifice. Emma raised the gun a little higher and tightened her grip, her jaw set and tense as she focused.

“Swan…put the gun down,” she finally said with a deep, gravelly voice. “If you pull that trigger, you will be the one that ruins your life this time _and_ your parents _and_ Henry’s and everyone else’s!”

“I have to protect them.”

“Then lower the gun,” she firmly demanded. “Your parents need a hero, _not_ a murderer!”

Emma didn’t budge.

“If you cross this line,” Regina tried again, “the journey back isn’t easy. _Trust me_. I know.”

Finally, there seemed to be more light and less darkness in those beautiful green eyes. There seemed to be some recognition in Emma’s gaze and her focus looked less determined even though she had yet to look anywhere else but at Lily.

“This is what Gold wants you to do,” Regina continued. “So _don’t_.”

She blinked and felt tears prickle her eyes as she watched. Emma still didn’t move and it _really_ wasn’t supposed to be that way. Emma wasn’t supposed to want to kill someone and Regina had given every reason she could think of to convince Emma to back off. She had no magic that time so she couldn’t just rip the gun out of Emma’s hands. She’d tried to convince Emma to walk away from her murderous thoughts that didn’t have to do with protecting the blonde from herself. She figured that would work. She figured the mere mention of their _son_ would work. So far it hadn’t. So instead—

“ _Emma_ , you’re better than this,” she said with a slightly wavering voice. Because if that didn’t work then it ended right there in that moment. Regina would have failed herself and more importantly Emma.

A long stretch of silence and stillness passed between the three of them, but eventually Emma relaxed her grip on her gun and put it away. Regina breathed out with relief and closed her eyes for a few seconds. It was over and Emma was safe. Lily was alive. Maleficent would still be able to meet her daughter.

The next few minutes were awkward. Emma looked regretful but she didn’t apologize. Everyone remained completely silent even as they all moved toward the cars.

“Unless that’s yours,” Emma started to say as she opened the driver’s side door to the Bug, “leave it here.”

Lily stopped before she could reach the blue car Emma had taken from the trailer park. The other woman looked over at her and Emma and looked a little confused.

“It’s stolen property,” Emma started to elaborate. “Whoever I took it from will probably file a report and the cops will be all over it. We cross state lines with it and there’ll be a bigger target on our back.”

“Who said anything about crossing state lines,” Lily asked with a furrowed brow.

“Regina and I have one more thing we’ve got to take care of out here, but we’re going back to Storybrooke. Your mom is there and she _really_ wants to see you. That’s why we came here. You think _my_ parents should be punished, but do you really think yours should too?”

Lily averted her eyes and stuffed her hands in her pockets. She looked a little like Emma in that moment and Regina was surprised just how similar the two of them were, both so self-destructive yet strong and both were definitely filled with bottled up rage and pain.

“What…what do you have to do first,” Lily asked as she looked up at them again.

“Get to New York and save Robin Hood from the Wicked Witch,” Emma said and then smirked, because it probably sounded ridiculous to the two women who hadn’t grown up in the Enchanted Forest.

Regina’s theory was proven right when Lily smiled and nodded as she looked down at the ground again.

“You coming,” Emma asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“Yeah. I’m not pushing you away this time,” Emma responded.

Lily smiled again and after a moment, she headed toward the Bug. Regina opened the passenger door and pulled the seat forward to allow the younger brunette access to the backseat.

Lily stopped in front of her and looked from the car to Regina and back again.

“You just joined this rescue mission,” Regina said. “You can hang back.”

Lily huffed and rolled her eyes, but she crawled into the backseat anyway without any real complaint. That alone made Regina grin and Emma noticed over the hood of the car. Emma shook her head like she didn’t approve the bitchiness, but Regina shrugged and arched her brow to express how much she didn’t care.

* * *

After the most strained and uncomfortable car ride of Emma's life, she, Regina, and Lily finally arrived in New York. All the tall buildings and the bustle of the city were familiar and almost made Emma feel at home for a moment. She remembered the time spent there with Henry and all their fake memories and she remembered a time before that when both she and Henry had their normal memories and Gold had whisked her away to find his son.

Regina directed her down streets that Emma recognized and suddenly, she had the strangest sense of déjà vu. Her mind filled with images of Hook trying to make her remember Storybrooke and the fact that she and Henry had been there before and the Savior was needed. Again. It wasn't a particularly fond memory and Emma wondered for the first time if she was going to feel as nauseated and off-kilter as she had back then. That thought alone was disconcerting to say the least.

A few minutes passed as they slowly made their way through hectic traffic before Regina pointed out a nearby building.

"That's it. That's the place," Regina said and pointed up toward one of the higher up floors.

Emma frowned and scanned the building before she gave the rest of the street around it another look. It was definitely familiar and Emma's stomach fell, queasy due to the dread she quickly started to feel. It almost overwhelmed her.

"You...you let them stay _here_ ," Emma asked as she parked the car along the curb in front of the building.

Emma looked up at the floor she just _knew_ Robin was on through her car window, her lips parted and brow furrowed. She wasn't ecstatic about the arrangement, but she wasn't sure she was supposed to care that much.

"Where else could they go," Regina asked, a little defensively by the sound of it.

Emma figured that probably had to do with her own tone, which was slightly bothered and upset.

"What's wrong with this place," Lily asked from the backseat.

Emma sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Nothing. Let’s just get this over with," she said and got out of the car before the other two women with her.

Everything was the same. Inside the building, the call box was the same. The barred door that prevented anyone but renters inside still reminded Emma of the caging in the back of a cop car except it was painted an off-white color. The only difference that time was that neither Gold nor Henry were with her, but she did have two others in their place. And instead of _him_ being upstairs it would be Robin Hood and his family, or at least part of his family plus Zelena wearing Marian's skin in a less gross but still disturbing likeness to Hannibal Lecter.

The last time Emma had been there, she'd buzzed up to the apartment and claimed to be from UPS. That time, she turned to Lily and looked her over a few times.

"Got anything thin and sharp on you," she asked.

Lily furrowed her brow, confused.

"Um, no. I don't think so. You mean like a pin or something?"

"Yeah, anything like that should work."

"Why can't we just ask to be let in," Regina asked.

"And risk your sister answering? I'm pretty sure your boyfriend doesn't get any visitors here so if we buzz up and he's not alone, we'll never get in there," Emma replied and then turned back to Lily.

Lily dug into all of her coat pockets, but shook her head when she came up empty.

"Sorry. I don't have anything."

Emma sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She quickly looked around and inspected the floor for any items that may have been carelessly left behind by others. It wasn't until she looked at the floor just past the door they needed to get in through that she found something she could use.

"Well, let's just hope I'm still skilled enough for this," she muttered and tried to find her way past part of the door.

The bars were just far enough apart for her to slip a few fingers through the grates so she crouched down and stuck as many fingers as she could through one of the grates, but it was with immense struggle that Emma pushed her fingers toward the floor to retrieve a discarded pen.

"Shit," Emma grumbled a little breathlessly as she pinched her fingers between a grate.

She pushed the web of her hand into the steel as she curled her index and middle finger in an unsuccessful attempt to even touch the pen. She puffed out a heavy sigh as she continued to exert herself and then adjusted how she crouched in front of the door as though the new position would give her more leverage. And it did, but only enough to hurt herself more.

"Damn it," she hissed as she tried to slip her thumb into the grate with her other two fingers.

The web of her hand hurt like hell and she wasn't making any progress so she hoped her thumb could fit, even though she was pretty sure it wouldn't.

"What I'd give to have my magic right now," Emma thought out loud.

"I didn't think _you_ of all people would have this problem," she heard Lily smugly tease from behind her.

"What problem would that be," Regina asked, clearly not in on the joke.

“Getting it in,” Lily answered.

"Oh, don't you worry," Emma said to Lily and looked over her shoulder at her old friend. "I _don't_ have that problem. At least not with women. Steel cages that don't respond to anything you do? That's a different story."

"Oh," Regina simply said, and when Emma looked over at her for a moment she saw that the brunette was all caught up.

Emma gritted her teeth and hissed again as she twisted her fingers and lifted then dropped her shoulder in an effort to push further and harder and somehow manage to slip past the grate just that little more that she needed to be successful. At the rate she was going, she'd have to dislocate her thumb to accomplish anything. But she wasn't a quitter so instead, she grabbed the grates with her other hand and squeezed her curled fingers around the steel as she fought through the pain it caused her to nearly get her fingers and thumb stuck in the grate.

However painful the attempt, it worked nonetheless.

Emma lowered and curled the fingers stuck in the grate and flicked the pen toward herself. When she heard it _clink_ against the bars she relaxed a little and groaned her relief. She rested her forehead against the bars for a moment and tried to catch her breath, which she had apparently held during her last, and more trying, efforts. She panted against the bars in front of her and kept her eyes closed for a moment as she slowly pulled her fingers out of the grate. She felt them throb as the rush of feeling in them returned to her slowly but surely.

"That is the _last_ time I do that. Next time one of you can risk your good hand," she grumpily said before she finally collected herself and grabbed the pen.

She stood up and twisted off part of the pen to get to the ink inside. She slid it out of the pen and then pocketed the pen's empty shell. She used the ballpoint tip of the ink supply to pick the lock and even though it took a couple of minutes, Lily and Regina's watchful eyes on her the entire time, she was able to open the door and allow them all access to the rest of the building.

"Thank you," Regina quickly said before she brushed past Emma in the biggest rush she thought she'd ever seen the other women in.

After their earlier talk in the car, before they picked up Lily, Emma thought it made sense. Regina's soulmate and very small and innocent boy were inside with a truly wicked woman and still had no idea of the danger they were in.

Lily hung back with her. Both of them knew their place. They were supporting characters and Lily was just along for the ride, as Regina had put it not too long ago. Emma motioned for Lily to walk further into the building first and thankfully there wasn't an awkward dance or argument about that. Lily stepped inside the secured part of the building and Emma followed a step behind.

Lily stopped in front of the elevators and waited for Emma as she held the door. Regina stood inside with her back pressed against a wall, impatient and fidgeting. The brunette fiddled with her coat and nervously wrung her hands together as she stared up at the numbers above the inside of the elevator door that lit up which floor the passengers were on as they moved from floor to floor.

Emma hurried inside and pressed the "door closed" button several times in rapid succession to ease Regina's worry that any second more they spent away from Robin was the one second it would take for them to be too late to save him. When the doors closed, Emma rested against the wall beside Regina. Their arms grazed, but neither one of them made a big out of it and neither one tried to move closer or further away. Lily leaned back against the rail on the opposite wall and glanced at them every few seconds even as she tried to act disinterested in whatever Emma and Regina had going on. Emma didn't pay Lily much attention and she didn't really care what her old friend saw anyway. She was there for Regina and Regina specifically needed her in that moment.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. We'll stop her," she soothingly tried to reassure Regina.

"You don't know that. You can't promise anything," Regina quietly said and wrapped her arms protectively around herself in a move Emma had seen countless times.

"Whatever happens," Emma tried again and turned to face Regina but still didn't move to touch her any more than she already had, "we aren't leaving here without him and Roland. _That_ I can promise."

The elevator dinged and the doors eased open at a leisurely pace inside the old building. Lily hesitated, kept herself pressed against the other wall, and Emma finally took a chance. She reached up and gently gripped Regina's bicep like she had a few times in the past. She carefully guided her out of the elevator, but as soon as they were both in the hallway on Robin's floor she released Regina's arm and let the brunette go up to the door on her own. Emma was right on her tail while Lily straggled behind a little more than necessary.

Regina took a deep breath and raised her hand, poised to knock, but waited a few more seconds until she was absolutely ready. After a moment, she let her knuckles connect with worn wood and then dropped her hand back down to her side.

No more than a minute passed, but it felt like a lifetime for Emma and Regina before anyone answered the door. The person that stood on the other side was thankfully a surprised Robin and not an awful, redheaded sister.

"Regina," he asked and Regina didn't hesitate before she barreled into the apartment.

Robin was all but pushed out of her way as she started to look around for something, or someone. While Emma watched Regina's frantic search, she also took in the sight of the apartment. All the little changes that had been made in recent weeks compared to the way it used to look and feel. A lot of things were still the same. She supposed Robin didn't have much and didn't go out to get anything else than what he needed so a lot of the decoration was his. Neal's. Emma was hit with a wave of sorrow and mourning. She was almost too caught up to hear any of Regina's conversation with the guy they were there to save. Almost.

“What are you doing here,” Robin asked, confused as always, and looked from Regina to her and Lily.

“I can explain everything, but first, where’s Marian,” Regina asked and it sounded like she was on the verge of, or already was, crying.

“She’s at the store. Why?”

“Good. Then there’s time,” Regina said before she ushered Robin from the main room toward the single bedroom. “We have to act fast.”

“What’s going on? What’s this about?”

“Marian. We have to leave before she gets back. She is _not_ who she says she is.”

“What?”

“She’s…my sister. Zelena.”

“The Wicked Witch? But she’s dead. We all saw that.”

“Somehow she…tricked us. She went back in time,” Regina impatiently said, notably frustrated, and then continued with a softer tone for what she had to say next. “Robin, she went back and…and _she_ killed Marian. She took her place to get…back at me.”

Emma turned to watch the rest of their conversation unfold and the first thing she saw was Robin as he shook his head and stared at Regina with such disbelief and what could only be described as disgust.

“No,” he breathed out. “This is madness.”

“Robin, what’s going on,” another woman asked from the doorway. The one woman none of them wanted to run into. “And what is _she_ doing here?”

“It’s over, Zelena. I told him everything,” Regina growled.

“Wh-What is she talking about,” fake Marian put on an equally fake act of fear as she set down the groceries and then walked across the apartment to cower behind Robin.

“Regina, stop this. You’re scaring Marian.”

“Good,” Regina replied. “Where’s the magic? You’ve got to have something here to keep up that glamor. Where is it, Zelena? Show me or I will _rip you apart_ until I find it!”

“Regina, that’s enough,” Robin shouted. “I know that this is hard. For both of us. But this is the new reality. I’m with _her_! I’m with Marian.”

Marian’s expression changed after the man insisted he had picked her over Regina, although Robin had yet to see it happen. She was smug and definitely looked more like the person beneath the magical mask.

“Actually, not exactly,” Marian said as she lifted a necklace with a large pendant that glowed green beneath her touch.

And then Marian transformed into Zelena whose smile was sweet when directed at Robin but morphed into a wicked grin when directed at everyone else.

“Hello, dear husband,” Zelena greeted Robin and strutted toward him.

Robin stumbled back a few steps, clearly surprised.

“What the hell was that,” Lily asked Emma.

“That was magic,” she flatly, almost disinterestedly, answered. And frankly, she was a little disinterested. She hadn’t been surprised by the display on Zelena’s part and Robin had clearly made the absolute worst choice not to pick Regina the first, second, or third time he was given the chance.

“Come on, Robin. We have to get you and Roland out of here,” Regina calmly said as she moved toward him.

Robin’s eyes were still fixed on Zelena. He looked her over a few times from head to foot, still in shock. And then his shock turned to sadness, like he’d figured out his fate was sealed and he was trapped.

“Robin, get Roland and let’s go,” Regina insisted.

“I think he still wants to stay,” Zelena laughed a little as she looked back and forth between Robin and Regina.

“Robin, what are you doing,” Regina asked.

Emma already didn’t like where things seemed to be headed.

“Get your son and let’s go,” Regina said a little louder.

“I can’t,” Robin argued.

“Yes, you can,” Regina pushed a little more. “Just come with me. Come on. Let’s go.”

“I’m sorry,” Robin gently said. Although, it certainly wasn’t very gentle in Emma’s opinion to reject Regina the way he seemed to be.

“I can’t leave her here,” Robin said.

“What,” Regina asked, appalled.

“Do _you_ want to tell her,” Zelena asked him and slowly stepped closer to him before she turned and faced Regina. “Or should I?”

“Tell me what,” Regina bitterly asked.

There was a long pause before Robin finally explained.

“She’s pregnant.”

Robin had tears in his eyes as he confessed. Emma’s eyes widened. She didn’t give a damn about Robin or what happened to him, but she sure as hell cared about Regina. Regina who was in the middle of all the ridiculous drama and her sister’s incessant need to cause an already hurt and broken woman more pain and suffering.

Emma suddenly found herself not caring if she and Zelena had similar backgrounds. She wanted to watch the witch burn. She had no empathy for someone who was determined to tear Regina down again and again just because she felt cheated out of a childhood that Emma learned the hard way wasn’t at all desirable.

“We should… Maybe we should get that drink now. So we can talk,” Robin suggested.

Emma wished Regina would tell him to fuck off and then walk away from him and his shitty decisions, but after a moment she nodded her agreement to talk to the forest freak. She stood by Lily and watched Robin and Regina head out before she turned her attention to Zelena.

The redhead was far too cocky and Emma was ready to unleash on the other woman. She felt a fire in her veins, felt her blood boil with hate and rage directed at Zelena. Beyond Storybrooke, however, she didn’t have the kind of magic she wanted to let out. She had nothing. She could at least engage in a fist fight that she was sure she would win because Zelena couldn’t possibly know how to fight without magic.

The need, the _urge_ , to beat Zelena almost, if not completely, to death started to take over her thoughts. Unable to resist any longer, she lunged for Zelena like she was starting a prison brawl. Without Regina there, she had no one to stop her or hold her back from finally letting loose.

Except Lily.

As she reeled back a fist, ready to punch Zelena hard in the nose as she hurried toward the woman, she felt strong arms block her attack from behind.

“Hey,” Lily said over her shoulder. “Cool it.”

She fought Lily’s hold, struggled against the arms and hands that prevented her from hitting someone who very much deserved it and a lot more, but Lily managed to push her aside.

“There’s a kid in here, right,” Lily asked. “Keep the peace. For him.”

She angrily straightened out her wrinkled and bunched up clothes and glared first at Lily before she directed her real disdain at Zelena.

“Guess that makes you lucky Roland’s here,” she told Zelena in a low and threatening tone. “I hope you burn.”

Once Zelena knew Emma meant her all the harm in the world, whether doled out by her own hand or not, she walked off and tried to get some much needed air.

* * *

Emma sighed and closed her eyes, leaned back and thudded her head against the wall behind the headboard. It had been over thirty minutes since she left Regina to talk with Robin. Thirty minutes since she and Regina and Lily all learned that Zelena was pregnant with Robin's baby and Robin wasn't going to leave the woman. Emma thought that she didn't like him before, but she was completely sure she hated him after Robin made that dumb choice.

Zelena was crazy and she'd pretended to be his wife when she tricked him into bed, but he had too much _honor_ to leave his kid alone with the psycho who only occupied her time with Robin to ensure Regina would never be happy. It made sense to protect the kid, sure, but Emma still couldn't see past that fact that Robin still chose _Zelena_. He hadn't made it all about the baby. He'd specifically said, "I can't leave her."

Emma clenched and unclenched her fists around the bed sheets. She wouldn't be able to relax or think about anything else until Regina retuned from the bar she went to share a drink with the douchebag that had made a terrible choice.

"You care about her," Lily stated, so sure of her inference.

Emma opened her eyes and turned to look over at Lily who sat on the edge of the only other bed in the hotel room. Unfortunately, none of them had a lot of money at their disposal and Emma was tired of driving for the night. The only option other than a cheap hotel room with limited beds and no pull out couch was to stay at Robin's –formerly Neal's—apartment until they were all ready to get back on the road again and return to Storybrooke.

Emma had quickly insisted they spend all the cash they had down to their last penny because she was _not_ under any circumstances going to stay anywhere _near_ Zelena. She just couldn't. And she wouldn't subject Regina to that torture either. So Lily and Emma went to get a room for the three of them at the closest and cheapest place for the night while Regina had an entirely too long talk with Robin, much longer than Emma was comfortable with, and the rooms they could get had two Queen sized beds.

"We share a kid. Of course I care about her," she finally answered Lily.

"Right, and _how_ exactly do you share offspring? Was it a mutual decision or—"

"I gave him up for adoption and she adopted him. End of story." But it wasn't the end of the story and Emma knew it. She just didn't want to, and didn't have to, explain anything more to Lily. Lily didn't have the right to know anything about her life, her family.

"So you're telling me you only care about her because you two are co-parents? Maybe that's how it started, but neither of you are out here for your kid."

She hated that Lily saw right through her, that Lily still understood her after all the years they spent apart. She still fought to understand her own emotions, but Lily was all over it and her unprocessed feelings and she wanted to scream because she just needed a minute to figure everything out for herself. She didn't need to be pushed or prodded or judged. She just needed to _understand_.

"Just leave it alone, Lily," Emma warned.

"Why? You asked me to come with you, we haven't talked in years. I want to know what's going on. After almost killing me I think you at least owe it to me to give us a chance to catch up."

"You were _begging_ me to kill you. Whatever. I'll talk to you about anything you want, but not her."

"Touchy subject, huh. This definitely isn't about the kid."

"Lily!"

Emma was done with calm and rational. She just wanted the other woman to shut up and stay out of her business.

"Okay. Relax. You won't tell me about stuck-up co-mom...so tell me about the kid. How old? What's he like?"

"Twelve. Almost thirteen. He's a good kid. Takes after his mom. Well, _both_ of them. He's smart, he's trouble, he's brave, and he's got an amazing heart. The heart of the truest believer, apparently."

Lily chuckled. "Sounds like a fairy tale."

" _Sounds_ like it. Except it doesn't ever feel like one."

She looked over at Lily again and silence enveloped the space between them as they shared a meaningful look. Both of them knew exactly what Emma meant. Nothing ever was as it seemed.

Seconds ticked by and just when Emma and Lily started to look away, look anywhere else but at each other, there was a knock on the door. Emma glanced at Lily again who met her gaze before Emma stood up and went to check the peephole. She looked through the small and distorted glass and saw that Regina was on the other side of the door.

Emma pulled away just enough to open up the room to the brunette and greeted her with a concerned expression that was also slightly relieved because she was finally able to see her again.

"How'd it go," she immediately asked as Regina trudged through the doorway with tired eyes and a deflated posture.

"I don't want to talk about it," Regina quietly said and shuffled toward the bathroom.

Regina gave the room a once-over before she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, thankfully without the telltale click of a lock.

Emma was all too aware of Lily’s presence in the room, but she couldn’t find it in her to care about their company. Regina was obviously hurt and all Emma wanted to do was help and maybe, _hopefully_ , fix it.

“Regina,” Emma softly called to her through the closed door.

She held back a moment and waited for a response that never came so she gently knocked, as if that would make a difference.

“Will you talk to me,” she asked and waited yet again to no avail.

Emma took a deep breath and released it in a sigh before she turned the knob and broke through Regina’s barrier, into her personal space—which wasn’t that personal considering that it was a hotel bathroom of all places, but it was where Regina had chosen to be alone and Emma chose to disrespect the boundaries the woman had set.

“Of course,” Regina hoarsely said through the tears Emma saw clearly in her chocolate brown eyes. “Of course you would _barge_ in here just like you barged into my life and turned it all upside down. Breaking things instead of fixing them. Some Savior you are.”

Emma hadn’t thought to close the bathroom door sooner, but after the brunette’s last comment she was much quicker to shut Lily out of their conversation and trapped both her and Regina in the bathroom to talk.

“I’m the Savior by design, not by choice. You really expect me to uphold all morals of a true Savior when that’s not who I am?”

It was meant to be a joke, something they could both smile about, but it was true and hit way too close to home to bring either of them comfort.

Slowly, Emma took the small and few steps it took to stand beside Regina where she sat curled up against the tub. She towered over Regina for a moment before she eased herself onto the floor with a groan and used the edge of the tub to help steady her as she moved.

“God, I’ve got to start working out more. I’m too young to have such a hard time sitting on the ground,” Emma muttered.

“You’ve definitely let yourself go a little since we got back from Neverland,” Regina casually mentioned, but kept her wet eyes focused on the wall between the sink and the toilet.

“What? No. I haven’t—I haven’t let myself _go_ ,” she insisted.

“Tell that to your less than taut or ripped abs,” Regina added and, to demonstrate, poked the tiniest bit of flab above the waistband of her jeans.

“And just how would you be able to notice a subtle thing like that,” she asked with a smirk.

Regina rolled her eyes and sniffled before she wrapped her arms around herself again.

“I don’t…I don’t know what happened,” Emma started to say after a long moment, “but if he broke up with you—”

“We weren’t together,” Regina growled. “We ended things the day he went over the town line.”

“Okay, but…if he said something… _did_ something… If he hurt you—”

“You’ll what? Kill him,” Regina deprecatingly chuckled.

“The thought _is_ tempting,” Emma said and Regina looked slightly aghast for a moment. “But that’s not what I was gonna say. I was actually only gonna threaten to hurt him, but I guess having _Zelena’s_ kid is torture enough.”

Emma felt Regina stiffen beside her. She didn't dare make a single move and she kept her mouth shut. Whatever she'd said that set Regina off was something the brunette needed to work through on her own time and even though Emma wanted to push to help Regina move past the hurt that much faster, she restrained herself. All Regina really needed was someone to be there, just to sit with her, and not give her pity or grief or coerce her into talking about sensitive things. Thankfully, Emma's surprising self-control was rewarded by Regina opening up.

"I'll never be his first choice," Regina softly said. "We're supposed to be soulmates and still I'd never be his first choice. Circumstances will always be there to guide him into choosing something, some _one_ , else."

Regina paused in the middle of processing everything and Emma wondered if she should wait for the brunette to continue or if she should give the other woman her honest opinion. She decided to wait a little while longer and if the silence between them turned awkward, she'd finally express herself. But the silence didn't stretch on for too long because Regina spoke again.

"There's nothing- I can't- Maybe if I could give him what she can..."

Emma frowned and knit her brow, instantly and extremely concerned as she tried to follow Regina's train of thought.

"But I can't," the brunette continued. "I've...since Henry I've always been just fine with that decision. It hurt like hell when I first did it and I didn't really get over it for months that I'd done it just to keep my mother from getting her way, using my body like she'd used the rest of me as her instrument."

Emma's heart started to race and pound harshly against her chest. She panicked as all the different images of just what Regina could have done to herself to avoid her mother's control flooded her mind and filled her with dread.

"Henry is more than enough for me, but," Regina started to add, "clearly Robin’s content to have another child. Another child that's _his_."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Emma cut in. She'd tried so hard not to interrupt, but her nerves had gotten the best of her due to Regina's last words. "Are you saying you can't biologically have children?"

Regina pulled away from her in a heartbeat. She slid toward the far wall and curled further in on herself, her knees almost pressed to her chest.

"Hey, I didn't mean it to sound rude or mean or judgmental. I'm sorry. I just...you're saying you can't...and that's because your mother was trying to use you...like that?"

She was met with sad and stubborn resistance from Regina. The brunette refused to explain anything to Emma and she understood the need for physical and emotional distance, but what Regina brought up was a heavy subject that Emma for sure wasn't going to ignore.

"Regina, I- God, I'm so sorry," Emma said and very slowly, very carefully scooted toward the other woman. "About Cora, about Robin. I wish..."

"Don't," Regina firmly and yet still so quietly said before she finally looked at Emma, her eyes and dark, thick lashes wet from tears that hadn't yet stained olive cheeks. "I don't care about biology. I love Henry no matter who gave birth to him and I've never and _will_ never feel any differently."

"I'm...I'm glad," Emma breathed out her relief and flashed a small smile. "But here's the thing, he's an idiot. An even bigger one than I am."

Regina laughed through her tears and said, "I highly doubt that."

"Things may have been a little complicated when he thought Marian was still Marian, but if he was going to stick by her because she was back then he shouldn't have gone right back to you the second she was sick. And now that's he's sure Marian is Zelena? I get keeping that psycho around for the kid's sake, because she really is insane, but he picked _her_? That was beyond stupid. He may be crazier than Zelena."

Regina took a ragged breath and sniffled again while the woman intently stared at her as she spoke.

"You're clearly the better choice. And not by default,” Emma told her.

Regina laughed again, still deprecating and humorless despite her wide smile. “And you thought this trip was about people thinking you needed a babysitter.”

Emma rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t change the subject. This is important. Regina…you’re incredible. Anyone that doesn’t pick you has no _idea_ what they’re missing.”

Regina stared at her, finally speechless. Words weren’t needed anymore. Instead, they said all they needed to say with their eyes.

Emma gazed at Regina for a long moment, waited until she was sure, and then wrapped an arm around Regina’s shoulders. She gently pulled the other woman against her side.

Regina was resistant at first. She pressed against Emma’s side, but she didn’t relax in the embrace for some time. Eventually, Regina exhaled and settled her head in the crook of Emma’s neck while Emma then rested her cheek on the top of the brunette’s head.

She started to rub Regina’s arm to help warm her up because it didn’t take long for her to realize the other woman was shivering. She was confident that the chill Regina felt didn’t have anything at all to do with the temperature in the bathroom or the rest of the hotel room.

Regina’s body started to jerk a little and her shoulders shook. It took a few moments before Emma heard her sob and as soon as she did, Emma held her closer, tighter. The two of them stayed like that for several minutes and Emma let Regina cry. She just held her while she cried and used tentative touches and a stronger, more supportive grip to assure Regina that she wasn’t alone.

 _I’ve got you_.

And she held on, tighter, tighter, tighter.


	12. Chapter 12

Regina sucked in a deep breath and due to her previous crying, she also sniffled loudly while she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. She swiped under her eyes and then patted at the wet spots she missed with a small portion of toilet paper. She tried to avoid looking anywhere else but at herself when she looked in the mirror and she’d been successful for the last minute or two. But she still felt the blonde’s presence the entire time and it didn’t help when Emma shifted where she sat on the edge of the tub behind her.

Regina’s eyes flicked to the younger woman, her expression unamused, and she tossed the damp toilet paper into the tiny trash can under the sink.

“Stare any harder and you won’t need magic to burn a hole through the back of my head,” she flatly said.

“Sorry. I, uh… Are you gonna be okay?”

“See a woman cry once and suddenly she needs her hand held every time she moves,” she retorted.

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Emma stated.

“Then what are you doing?”

“Giving you space without leaving you alone to do…whatever it is you might do if you’re by yourself.”

“You make it sound like I’ll hurt myself.”

“Maybe. You’ve been suicidal a few times before and it didn’t seem like such a hard choice for you.”

Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes before she turned to face Emma and leaned back against the sink.

“Those times were different,” she insisted, her voice like gravel.

Emma shrugged and said, “Not to me. Which is why I’m gonna be here for you every step of the way.”

“Whether I like it or not?”

“You got it.” Emma finally stood up. The blonde sighed as she took a step toward her and Regina looked the younger woman up and down.

“You ready to go back out there,” Emma asked.

She took a deep breath and stared at Emma for a moment before she nodded. A second later, the two of them went to the door. Emma opened it and let her walk back into the room. Immediately, she noticed Lily.

The other woman looked much more comfortable on the bed she occupied than Regina remembered from before she’d slipped into the bathroom. It didn’t really both her, but she seemed to be more aware and more caring that a third party was a witness to what had and what could happen during the trip. She was vulnerable and she didn’t even like how much of her break down _Emma_ had seen, and the two of them were supposed to be friends. Lily was a complete stranger to her.

“Think you can manage not to kick in your sleep,” Emma asked as she moved past her and moved toward the bed Lily seemed to have claimed for herself.

“When have you ever known me to kick,” Lily asked and moved over to free up a side of the bed.

“It wasn’t much of a kick, but I do remember a time when your foot was wedged between my legs.”

“You never said anything,” Lily grinned. “Must have felt too good for you to complain.”

Regina moved over to the vacated bed and looked up in time to catch Emma roll her eyes as she fluffed a pillow and pulled back the covers.

“It _really_ wasn’t,” Emma insisted. “It was awkward and I was being nice. I woke up first and didn’t see the point in bringing it up.”

Regina started to tug on the sheets of her bed and adjusted the position of the two pillows, her thoughts focused on the same thing her eyes were: Emma. She watched the blonde bicker with Maleficent's daughter and it looked nice. It looked familiar to both of them even though they hadn't seen each other in a while and Regina kind of missed being that way with Emma. The bickering was only so much fun, but the ease of it and the comfort it gave her to do something she was used to was certainly something she craved after her awful night.

"If you two aren't going to behave maybe you shouldn't share a bed," Regina explained with an arched brow.

"Behave how," Emma asked and Regina noticed the blonde’s lips twitch into a faint and brief smirk.

"You'll either argue all night or get up to... _other_ things while I'm trying to sleep. I don't need that and I won't tolerate taking care of two children while we're here. I have Henry for that."

"Then what are you suggesting," Lily asked. "Because there's no way I'm sleeping with you."

Regina scrunched up her nose with disgust and replied, "The feeling's mutual. I'm too close to your mother to cuddle up with her offspring."

Lily snorted as she burst into laughter. "Like you aren't 'close' with Emma’s mom?"

"That is not the same," she quickly and firmly stated.

"Oh, really? How is it not?"

"I've never had sex with _her_ mother," she motioned toward Emma and evilly grinned at Lily as the girl went completely pale and slack-jawed in an instant.

"I _knew_ you two had a thing," Emma exclaimed and pointed a finger at her. A moment later she didn't look so happy to know that bit of information.

" _Never_ tell me," Lily demanded before she settled in under the covers, seemingly almost ready for bed.

"So, uh, sleeping arrangements," Emma brought them all back to the previous line of conversation. "Are you suggesting that I share with you?"

Regina tried not to audibly gulp. After the way Emma had held her in the bathroom, it was sufficiently awkward for her to ask the blonde to spend the night by her side. It wasn't all that strange and friends did that sort of thing plenty of times, but it wasn't something she and Emma did. They'd never been closer than they had been over the course of their rushed trip. They might have fallen asleep together on or near the couch once or twice back in Storybrooke, but they'd been sitting up and exhausted themselves to the point where it just happened. It wasn’t planned. The most they'd touched was a head placed on the other's shoulder and that was it.

She cleared her throat and hid behind a mask of agitation and inconvenience before she finally answered the blonde's question. "I figure it's better than the alternative."

"What, me sleeping with Lily?"

"You wouldn't be sleeping," Lily smugly, confidently, said with her eyes closed and her lips curled into a wide smirk. "I'd rock the Savior's world."

"You get as horny as your mother when something pretty walks by," Regina cut in and watched instantly as Lily's eyes opened and her smirk disappeared.

Lily glared at her while Emma laughed. As soon as Lily closed her eyes again and then turned on her side so her back was to both her and Emma—who had walked over toward Regina not too long ago—the blonde's laughter faded and realization dawned on the woman's features.

"Wait, did you just call me pretty," Emma asked her.

"Clearly your old friend is attracted to you so I guess there's at least someone other than your putrid pirate that agrees with that assessment."

A look of hurt passed over Emma's features for a fleeting moment, but the younger woman just as quickly seemed to get over it.

"Okay, which side of the bed do you want," Emma asked as she started toward the side closest to the nightstand that separated the two beds.

"I think you've already sorted that out," she said and gestured at the bed because they were each on their own sides of the bed.

"Oh, I just...assumed because you were over there messing with the sheets and stuff."

"You assumed correctly. Besides, even if I didn't like this side of the bed I'd like to keep my distance from her," she pointed at Lily.

"You know I'm still awake and can hear you, right," Lily grumbled.

Emma shook her head and turned off the bedside lamp. She pulled back the covers and sat down on the edge of the bed before she removed her boots.

"I hope you plan to keep your pants on," she said as she sat down on her side of the bed and peeled off her jacket before she tossed her shoes aside.

Emma crinkled her brow and asked, "Why wouldn't I?"

"The first morning you spent in Storybrooke you answered your door in a tank top and a pair of underwear."

"Oh, yeah, well, I didn't want my jeans to crease while I slept and I didn't have a change of clothes with me. Kind of like now."

"I will _buy_ you an entirely new outfit tomorrow if you keep all of your clothes on," she tried to bargain with the blonde.

Emma lightly laughed and asked, "Do I make you nervous?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she huffed and then eased onto her back.

Emma released a loud and heavy sigh before she wriggled around and made herself comfortable under the sheets.

"Goodnight, Regina."

Regina groaned. "Goodnight, _Miss_ Swan."

* * *

Emma felt calmer and more relaxed, more peaceful than she had in a long time. She felt warmth on her face as well as where it radiated around her beneath the sheets. Her hand was pressed against something soft and smooth and her head was cushioned by something soft and comforting. She wasn't yet awake or aware of anything but how good she felt. That feeling alone made her hate even the idea of getting up or opening her eyes, but her mind and body were fully rested so she started to wake up naturally.

She blinked a few times as she slowly started to open her eyes, her vision still blurry from sleep. It took a moment before she was able to see clearly and the first thing she saw was the hotel room window, the curtains partially open as they allowed a moderate amount of sunlight to streak into the room. Then she realized there was something settled at the bottom of her line of sight. A chest that steadily rose and fell and her head moved in time with it.

She lifted her head and turned to see Regina, eyes closed and unbothered by their position and Emma's recent movements. The brunette looked so serene in her sleep, at least that morning she did, and Emma wanted to smile. She almost did, but it was odd to think that Regina was partially rolled onto her side—though still mostly on her back—with an arm slipped beneath Emma's neck and shoulders. Her fingers twitched and curled and suddenly, her nails raked over warm, bare skin.

Regina contentedly hummed in response to the contact and Emma's breath hitched. Somehow during sleep, her hand had slipped under Regina's dress. Her knuckles brushed against the hem of it, but her hand was placed almost possessively over one of the brunette's thighs. Prior to waking up, her head had been on Regina's chest between her shoulder and a perfectly soft, round breast. One hand was on Regina's thigh while the other was tucked between both of their bodies and pressed against the side of one of the other woman's breasts. They were too close. Emma's hands didn't belong anywhere on Regina. She had to move, had to get out of bed and away from the brunette before anyone else woke up and caught them like that.

"You do more than care about her," she heard a groggy voice say from behind her. "You love her."

Emma tensed a little at the words and while she wanted to deny them, she really didn't want to have that conversation. She didn't want to have it with Lily and she didn't want to say a damn thing about Regina, good or bad, especially when the brunette could easily overhear if she started to stir and most likely would try not to let on that she was awake.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Lily laughed a little, her voice still deep and rough as she still worked on fully waking up herself. "You used to look at me like that a couple of times, y'know."

"Yeah, I remember," she quietly said. "I was young and you were the first friend I ever had. You were my _only_ friend."

"Until the Evil Queen came along."

"She's not evil," she defended the sleeping woman.

"Maybe not anymore. But once upon a time..." Lily trailed off and didn't bother to finish that thought. "Is that why you wouldn't talk about her last night?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she stupidly remained in place on the bed with her body almost wrapped around Regina's.

"I hope you punch that guy at least once," Lily said after a moment. "For her."

Emma slowly started to smile and was thankful that Regina and Lily couldn't see it. She closed her eyes and completely forgot about wanting to remove herself from an awkward situation of Regina waking up to find them pressed together. She couldn't resist staying so, so close as she started to melt into the brunette all over again with a sigh and a slowly fading smile.

With her eyes closed and her body more relaxed as she remained close to Regina, Emma easily started to drift back to sleep. She was on the precipice of full unconsciousness when she felt Regina shift forward, toward her, and caused her hand to slide further up the other woman's thigh. Her fingers brushed over the top of the warm thigh to the back of it and a little higher up beneath Regina's dress. She was only faintly aware of the change, too relaxed to even care that the position was a little compromising.

Her nose was nuzzled in the crook of Regina's neck by the time the brunette had readjusted herself and she felt a nose, and quite possibly a mouth, lightly pressed to the top of her head. It wasn't until she heard a continuous knock on the hotel room door that she started to stir yet again. She was still out of it and definitely nowhere near prepared to answer, or even think about answering, the door. Fortunately, it seemed Lily was fine to handle it for her.

But it was her _mis_ fortune that morning when Lily opened the door and a gruff male voice Emma didn't immediately recognize in her sleepy haze started talking. Lily exchanged a few words with him, enough that the conversation lasted long enough for Emma to realize just who was at the door.

"Regina?"

Robin's voice was loud at that point and it almost sounded angry and heartbroken from what Emma could tell with her back still to the door and to the man who'd sounded much closer to them inside the room.

If Regina had been completely out of it before then she certainly was waking up to the sound of his voice and Emma moved with her as they both started to get up. Emma looked over her shoulder and saw Robin standing in the small space that existed between Lily's bed and theirs—closer to the foot of the beds than the head of it, which Emma was actually grateful for. Her eyes widened when she watched his gaze focus on the slightly questionable movement under the sheets between their bodies.

As Regina moved so did Emma's hand, which made it seem like things were happening just out of sight that weren't happening at all. Robin's eyes were tired and sad and he suddenly looked very ragged in Emma's opinion. She didn't care that he seemed so hurt to think things were happening between her and Regina. He'd chosen Zelena. Regina didn't need to, and shouldn't, wait around for him to decide he'd rather be with her. He missed his chance. What she _did_ care about was that it seemed like Regina was hurt and vulnerable and easy to bed because of that.

"Robin," Regina groggily asked as she finally sat up and Emma's hand softly thumped on the mattress, no longer on the other woman's body at all. "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"You- What- When did this- _How_ ," was all he could manage to ask.

Emma lifted her hand and made sure it was visible to both Robin and Regina before she then ran it through her hair. She sighed and gulped, not really nervous but definitely uncomfortable.

"What," Regina asked with a shake of her head. "I don't understand. What are you asking about?"

"You. And her," Robin replied as his eyes went from Regina to her.

"Wh- There is no me and her," Regina answered.

"Then why are you sharing a bed?"

"Uh, if you can share a bed with the woman that paraded around as your wife long enough to _conceive_ I'm pretty sure Regina and I can sleep on the same mattress without being asked these stupid questions. It's none of your business," Emma crankily told him off.

Robin immediately looked to Regina for support and Emma rolled her eyes. He was such a child. Emma would never understand what Regina had ever and might still have seen in him.

"Emma," Regina gently warned.

She blew out a heavy sigh and glared at Robin for a moment before Lily tried to cut through the tension.

"I think I'm gonna grab some breakfast. Do you want anything," Lily asked as she looked at both her and Regina.

"A bagel and some coffee," Emma said. "I don't care how you order the coffee as long as it's not bitter."

Lily nodded and looked at Regina expectantly.

"Just a criossant with whatever jelly they might have. And I'll have a coffee too, but I don't mind bitter."

"Got it. I'll be back soon," Lily said and then left her alone with Robin and Regina.

As soon as the door closed behind Lily, Regina threw off the covers and got out of bed. She walked around to where Robin stood, sympathy and a little confusion in her expressive gaze directed at the man that deserved absolutely no answers.

"Is there a reason you came here so early," Regina carefully asked and then looked around the room. "Where's Roland?"

"At the apartment."

"With that crazy witch," Emma quickly asked, a little more angered by Robin's additional stupid actions.

"I've left him with her plenty of times before and she's never hurt him."

"Yeah, you left him with her when you thought she was Marian," Emma argued and shot out of bed before she swiftly got in his face. "When she was playing nice, playing _house_ , so you could get her pregnant! All bets are now, wouldn't you think?"

"Not if she expects me to stay with her," Robin answered.

"I thought you made that pretty clear last night," Emma spoke in a low, menacing tone that made Robin's eyes flicker with a hint of surprise and fear.

"Emma, back off," Regina said and grabbed her arm.

Regina pulled her a little roughly so that she took a couple of steps away from Robin. Emma gritted her teeth and tried not to take her anger out on Regina. It was Robin that pissed her off and Regina had been through enough in the last forty-eight hours. She didn't need Emma lashing out at her for someone else's behavior.

Emma looked from Robin to Regina and noted the pleading look in brown eyes, eyes that Robin couldn't see as the brunette kept her back to him for the moment. The woman's point was quickly and easily communicated and while Emma wasn't happy about it, she respected Regina's decision to be left alone with Robin. Obviously Robin wasn't going to say anything he had intended to when he'd decided to visit their room when Emma was busy grilling him about and judging him for the previous night.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she grumbled before she walked around Regina and grudgingly made herself scarce.

For a moment, Emma considered just sitting in the bathroom while she tried to overhear the conversation beyond the closed bathroom door. She heard muffled voices, both Regina's and Robin's, from her place just behind the door. Her hand still rested on it from when she'd pushed it shut and she wasn't in the mood for a shower when all she really wanted to do was punch Robin in the face as Lily had suggested.

Of course, it had been a long trip and eventually she'd need a shower. There were two other people she was sharing that bathroom with until they checked out and went back to Storybrooke and she already said she'd shower so it seemed pointless to sit in there and wait for Robin to leave. The timing was as good as it was going to get and if she didn't turn on the water soon, one or both of the people on the other side of the door would start to wonder what she was doing, if she was listening.

Mind made up, Emma peeled off her shirt and unclasped her bra. Both fell to the floor in seconds just before she tugged her jeans and panties down her legs. She then pulled back the curtain and turned the shower on. She stood and waited outside of the shower entirely naked while she occasionally checked the water temperature to make sure it was warm enough to stand under. A short time passed before she was satisfied and then stepped into the shower. She turned her back to the shower head and stepped backward until water soaked her hair and streamed down her face, her eyes closed as she felt the warm water cover her body.

She pushed her wet hair out of her face and tipped her head back to feel more water rush out of the shower head and onto her face. She didn't bother with soap or shampoo yet. She just stood under the relaxing, warm water as it eased her physical tension. She stepped away from the water a moment later just to give herself a little room to breathe and she hesitated for a few seconds before she bent over and finally grabbed the shampoo the hotel supplied.

She began to lather her darkened blonde locks and gently massaged her scalp a little as she did. She felt herself decompress before she stepped back under the spray of water and started to rinse out her hair. Soon she moved on to running the hotel soap over her slick skin from her hips up to her breasts and down again. Just as she finished gliding the soap around her legs, she set the soap down and suddenly, the curtain was yanked wide open.

Emma jumped and instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, unsure as to who had interrupted her shower, even though her bare ass was what was on display. Her back was to the door and the person that was suddenly in the bathroom with her, which she quickly realized was her fault because she forgot to lock the door during her earlier indecision of whether or not to shower.

"What the hell," she shouted over the running water as she felt someone step into the shower behind her. "Occupied!"

"Shut up," she heard a very familiar voice—distinctively not Robin—curtly demand.

"Seriously? Did you learn this from your ex-girlfriend or did she learn this from you? Because now _both_ of you have walked in on me in the shower within the past few days."

Emma started to look over her shoulder so she could see the other woman, but she was quickly stopped at Regina's insistence again.

"Don't turn around. Just step aside for a second."

"Regina—" Emma started to say and attempted to turn more fully that time before she was cut off.

" _Don't_ turn around! Close your eyes if it helps."

Regina gently guided Emma almost flat against the wall as she stepped underneath the water. The brunette hastily went about a typical shower routine, as far as Emma could tell with her breasts pushed against the cool tiled wall and her eyes only able to catch flashes of Regina's face, hair, and back as she moved from the middle of the shower to the corners where Emma had left the soap and shampoo.

"Is Robin still here," Emma finally thought to ask after a few minutes.

"Yes. He's on the phone with my sister," Regina answered. "Everyone needs to get ready quickly. As soon as Lily comes back with the food, we're going back to Storybrooke."

"Why the rush?"

"Mal just called me. Apparently, Gold used the last thief left in town to steal back Belle's heart. I just lost my leverage and I'm sure he's more than pissed now that he's finally back in control. He can do much worse than try to use Zelena against me."

"So...you're in here with me because...?"

"I told you we need to be quick."

"You could have just not taken a shower until we got back," she argued.

"Not an option," Regina insisted and finally moved out from under the shower head. "Rinse off and get out."

"Uh, what if I still need to wash my hair?"

"Do you?"

"No."

"Rinse off and get out," Regina more sternly commanded, frustrated and unamused.

"Can I turn around yet?"

She thought she heard Regina sigh, but it was hard to tell with the shower on. She didn't have time to think about what she thought she heard, however, because in an instant she was forcefully turned around and pushed against the wall again. Her shoulder blades bumped into the tile and for a moment she was breathless. Regina was naked and standing right in front of her. Regina had been the one to turn her around and allow her a chance to stare at uncovered assets that Emma was definitely tempted to check out, but she disciplined herself to keep her eyes on Regina's face. It was not an easy task.

Regina moved closer and their noses nearly touched with the lack of space left between them. Chocolate colored eyes looked a little darker and displayed more than what looked like desire in their intense gaze. Regina’s eyes flicked from Emma’s gaze to her pink lips and she slowly and subtly cocked her head to the side for just a moment.

The air was electrically charged around them and Emma swore that magic was in the air even though magic didn’t, _couldn’t_ , exist outside of Storybrooke. But maybe it could, because it certainly felt possible in that moment.

Emma’s breath hitched and she wondered when—not if—Regina would kiss her. A hand slid up her stomach from her hip to just below her right breast while Regina’s other hand pressed against the tile next to the blonde’s body. She felt her muscles reflexively ripple under Regina’s touch and she leaned closer to the other woman’s lips just a little bit more.

Regina’s eyes returned to Emma’s before she said, “Thank you.”

The spell was broken. Emma’s brow furrowed as she stared at Regina with confusion. “For what?”

“Last night,” Regina answered.

Emma stared at her, saw slicked back dark hair and no makeup. Regina looked as raw as the emotions in her eyes and Emma melted on the spot.

“Um, you’re welcome?”

“You sound unsure about that.”

“It’s just- You’re not going to, like, reward me for caring about you. Are you? Is that what this is?”

Regina pulled her head back, but kept her hands in place before she replied, “Are you looking for a reward?”

“No,” Emma honestly answered. “You don’t owe me for being there for you. I’ll always be here, whenever you need me. I’ll never expect anything in return.”

The corners of Regina’s mouth curled into a quick and barely there smile before the brunette closed the remaining distance between them. Emma’s breath caught in her throat just as she felt Regina’s lips touch hers. The kiss was chaste even though Regina lingered for a long moment. Slowly, as Regina ended the kiss, fingers danced their way up her stomach before a palm flattened against her just above her navel and under her breast.

That was when her own eyes were drawn to Regina’s hand and she lost all self-control to avoid staring at Regina’s body. She couldn’t even remember to breathe, unable to look away—not that she wanted to. Regina Mills stood naked in front of her, wet from the shower with a hand deliciously close to her breast.

“Maybe you won’t expect it, but that doesn’t mean I won’t show you my gratitude,” Regina purred before her fingers closed in on her nipple and gave a gentle and arousing squeeze.

“Regina…” she trailed off as she looked over Regina’s body in its entirety before she finally met her gaze again.

Regina’s free hand trailed down her arm. It was gentle and barely there. It gave Emma goosebumps and left a tingling sensation behind every inch traveled by the brunette’s fingers. She slid her arms around Regina and held the woman close.

There was a moan. She wasn’t sure who it came from. She was only aware of the vibration against her skin and her mouth, the feeling stronger than the sound of it as the shower continued to run. Suddenly, she lightly bit Regina’s bottom lip and the woman moved her hand from Emma’s stomach to her hair in response.

Faintly, beyond the water and the curtains and the blood pounding in her ears at the thrill of kissing Regina, there was loud knocking on the bathroom door.

“Regina! Regina?”

Robin. His voice boomed past the closed door and the sound of the shower. It took both women out of the moment in an instant.

They pulled apart and Regna looked almost devastated as she stared at Emma.

It was then that it hit Emma. She had kissed Regina. She had kissed Regina less than a day after the woman had cried on her shoulder and confessed a few things Emma was sure Regina wouldn’t have shared with her under any other circumstances. She had kissed Henry’s other mother. Whatever happened between them would affect him. Oh, she’d messed up big time.

Before Emma could say or do anything, like apologize or try to talk about it with the brunette, Regina jumped out of the shower and rushed around until she was dried off and fully clothed. She finished rinsing off as Regina put on the last of her clothes and scrambled for the door.

Emma felt worse than before about the kiss, but mostly because she felt rejected. Regina had panicked when she pulled away, panicked as soon as Robin had her attention. She knew Regina wouldn’t go back to Robin because the guy made it clear who he would stick by, but it still stung. It stung that Regina had fled like she couldn’t get away from Emma fast enough.

As soon as she was soap-free, Emma turned off the water and dried off. She was much slower to redress than Regina and wasn’t at all in a hurry to walk out of the bathroom to whatever scene awaited her. It was with reluctance that she opened the door and made her way back to reality and it was then that she started to worry, _What if Regina actually did still want to try and fix things with Robin?_

* * *

Emma drove back to town with Lily while Regina drove the black SUV they rented for Robin, Roland, and Zelena. Emma was sure the trip was awkward for Regina, but she was also just as sure that being in the Bug with her after their kiss would have been more if not equally tense. Maybe being with Robin and Zelena was the lesser of two evils. Or maybe it was just because Regina was the only one out of the three of them that knew how to drive a car. That was definitely the case and probably the only reason Regina had subjected herself to whatever torment awaited her with the long drive back to Storybrooke with the others.

While Regina's reaction still hurt her, Emma was determined to talk to the brunette about their shower as soon as things were a little more under control back home. She needed to know why it had happened and she also needed to make it very clear that Regina was the one who'd intruded on her shower time. She was the one that initiated the nakedness that was probably a huge reason behind how the kiss even happened. The more Emma thought about it, the quicker she then realized she'd felt rejected for kissing Regina when in reality Regina had been the one to make the first move. That sounded petty in her head as much as she knew it would sound petty out loud too, but she was certain that Regina had started it all.

She really needed to stop thinking about it so much. It had happened and she needed to move on, or at least not dwell on the whys and the how until she confronted Regina about it. Because all Emma could do until they talked was speculate and speculation wasn't an answer. Speculation was a bunch of theories and guesses and most of it probably wasn't anywhere near a correct assumption.

Emma broke out of her thoughts and glanced over at Lily who had been extremely quiet. When she realized her old friend wasn't in the greatest mood and actually looked a little nervous, it gave her a nice distraction. Just what she needed.

"Hey. You okay?"

Lily crossed her arms and made herself small in the passenger's seat as she avoided eye contact. She looked out through the windshield at the road ahead for a short while before she turned her head to look out through her own window, the emotion in her eyes no longer visible in her new position.

"I'll be fine."

"What is it," Emma asked.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing. Come on. We're...on the way to being friends again, right? You can talk to me."

"It's... I don't want to talk about it."

"You can't just hide from your feelings."

"I'm not hiding. I'm just not sharing."

"You've been doing a lot of that lately. Isn't it time to let someone in on whatever's going on in your head?"

Lily humorlessly laughed. "No one should know what's going on in there."

"Uh, _hello_. Who do you think you're talking to? I've got a lot of problems, too. And you'd understand about half of them. Maybe more."

"Then why don't _you_ share?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she offered.

"I don't think your girlfriend would like that."

Emma heavily sighed and said, "She's not my girlfriend and I told you—"

"Yeah, yeah. You won't talk about her. You see how that works? You don't want to talk, we don't talk. So why is it that you can't leave me alone when I say I don't want to talk?"

"Because the thing with Regina is...it's complicated. And your thing is—"

"Complicated," Lily replied before Emma even finished her sentence. "You have no idea what I'm thinking so you don't know how complicated it is."

"More complicated than my thing?"

"I still don't really know your thing since all you do is shut down when I mention her, but I imagine it's about the same level. It's just...a different kind of complicated."

Emma nodded and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Lily wasn't much of a conversationalist so she didn't say anything either and silence soon surrounded them. When it was too quiet for Emma and her thoughts started to return to Regina and her well-sculpted and gorgeously olive skin, she decided a new line of questioning might keep her occupied, especially if it got her somewhere with Lily.

"So, are you excited to finally meet your mom?"

Lily didn't respond. Emma waited for a while, but the woman never spoke up or even cleared her throat like she was trying to think of a good enough answer to at least appease Emma and still kind of dodge the subject.

"I can't say I know her well enough to make it a little easier for you to know even a little bit about what you're getting into with her, but she's pretty. She's blonde and has these piercing blue eyes. And she turns into a dragon."

"I know that part," Lily grumbled.

"Right. The wall with all the secrets of Storybrooke and my family tree on it," Emma replied. "Well, she seems to like both guys and girls because she gave birth to you and she's been with Regina."

"Don't remind me," Lily groaned and Emma laughed before she grimaced as it dawned on her that while it might have been a hot image, it was also a sad one because Emma knew without a doubt that she really liked Regina and didn't want to imagine her with anyone else.

"Got it," Emma said and continued. "Anyway, she seems open minded. It's the kind of thing you and I dreamed of, remember?"

"Yeah," Lily quietly said, a little withdrawn.

Emma decided to leave it at that and hoped things didn't get too intense between Maleficent and Lily when they returned. At least not as long as they had an audience.

When neither one of them had anything more to say, or just refused to say anything else, Emma took out her phone and opened up her music. She set it to shuffle and set it down between her and Lily while the first song, a random selection while she focused more on driving, played through the small speaker. She let it play through the limited music library she kept on it, which left them with a few hours of ambient sounds and nothing else to entertain them as they continued on toward Storybrooke.

She took a deep, slightly gasped, breath as she drove over the town line. She felt her body tingle and blood boil with the return of her magic. She had access to it again and it felt fantastic. She'd been gone for only a day and a half and yet, she'd missed her magic. It was a part of her, even though she hadn't known or felt it for many, many years, she had gotten used to it the more she practiced and she realized how much she hated being without it. It was like a limb, only maybe it was more like her heart or soul. It was significant and she found herself desperately lacking without it.

It was a relief to have her magic back, but that was far from how she felt about being on the other side of the town line again. It was just something she had to deal with and she'd need to take Regina's earlier advice to "get over it" because there was nowhere else to go. She didn't really want to be anywhere else either. She just didn't want to have to deal with everything that happened just because she was related to a bunch of people that everyone else thought were only stories. The one good thing about being back was Henry. She would get to see him again. He always found a way to brighten her day even just the tiniest bit in all the chaos. He was just so damn adamant and hopeful and sometimes it went a little too far and pushed Emma to her limit, but most of the time it was still cute. He was still so young and innocent. If he wasn't usually being kidnapped, playing the role of the little prince in distress, he'd probably be gallant white knight. One day, she thought. He'd grow into a title like that.

Except she didn't want him to embrace some title. She wanted him to be himself, free of any labels. She knew too well what being labeled did to a person, did to her. And Regina too. The Savior. The Evil Queen. None of it really meant anything. It wasn't who they were. It was the way they acted and what they did, but underneath the names they were just Emma and Regina. But not Emma _and_ Regina, she had to remind herself. They weren't anything more than friends and with the way Regina bolted after their kiss, she wasn't even sure she could call them that anymore.

All her anxiety and doubts were momentarily forgotten when she drove down Main Street and saw a small group gathered on the sidewalk. She recognized all four of the people waiting outside of the library and she was weighed down with the understanding that she was officially back. She didn't even have time to go to the apartment or make herself a second cup of coffee or just to sit still for a moment before her parents were expectantly standing next to Maleficent and Hook as the two cars approached.

Emma pulled up to the curb and parked. She cut off her engine and was thankful that Lily wasn't in a rush either. She wanted a few seconds to herself to just breathe and keep her anger to a minimum. If she let herself, her magic would flare up in response to her rising rage level at the sight of Snow and David alone. She still couldn't get over what they'd done, to her and to Lily and all the lies that followed. She wasn't ready to forgive them and she really just wanted space from them, which was difficult because she lived with them.

She took a calming breath and slowly released it as she turned to Lily.

"Ready," she asked.

Lily looked at the people outside and then looked over at her for a moment before she answered, "Not as ready as I wish I was."

"You and me both," she said with a smile.

They both got out of the car at the same time and Lily stiffly stood by the car for a moment. Emma walked around the back of the car and looked at Regina for a moment as she helped Roland out of the SUV before she came up to Lily's side and wrapped an arm around her. She guided her old friend toward Maleficent and smiled at the blonde as she walked with Lily.

"Maleficent, meet Lily," she introduced them and patted Lily's arm a couple of times then gave it a gentle squeeze before she let go. She took a step back and finally turned to look at her parents and Hook. She hadn't fully acknowledged them except from inside the car and once she was face to face with all of them, she really didn't have the heart to greet them all after her trip. She wasn't even gone that long. She shouldn't have missed them anyway and they shouldn't have missed her either. It wasn't like anything was going to happen to her.

Hook stepped up and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled as they hugged, but it was a little forced. Like being the Savior, she felt like she was playing a part. All the time she spent with Regina felt natural and as normal as her non-normal life could get. She'd felt it before she went to New York and it seemed nothing had changed in the short time she had spent away from Storybrooke. Even after the kiss.

"Glad you made it back," Hook said.

"Mhmm," she hummed her agreement, but couldn't manage any more than that.

She hugged him back with less force, her arms a little limp against his back. Her hands pressed against his leather jacket, but only enough for him to feel their presence. It wasn't like it had been when her hands roamed Regina's body a few hours prior. She didn't cling to him for dear life. She didn't even hold him like he meant anything to her. She even kept space between their lower halves.

With Regina, she'd felt breasts and legs and pelvic bones touch. On top of that, it was the first time they'd kissed and Emma was more than okay with them flush against each other. She suspected that even if they hadn't been in the shower, hadn't been naked, they still would have—or at least _she_ would have, unsure about what Regina would have done—eliminated the same kind of space between them they had that morning. Her hands fell back to her sides and it took Hook a moment before he let go and moved back. She still wasn't glad to be back, she was just glad the hug was over.

When Snow stepped up to hug her, a big smile on her face like all the other times they'd greeted each other after an absence, Emma frowned and pulled away before the other woman could touch her. David flashed her a sad smile and seemed to nod in understanding. He didn't bother to move or reach out to her, even before she looked at him to see what he would do. He was rooted in place almost like he knew she wouldn't be as warm with them as they wanted to be with her.

She cleared her throat and looked away, but that only meant that she looked at Regina instead. The brunette looked worse than she had before she ran out of the bathroom. She didn't look as shocked, but she definitely looked unhappy. She was also convinced that Regina's mood had nothing to do with whatever she might have endured on the car ride back. Robin looked a little tense and Zelena didn't seem as smug, but she wasn't completely unsatisfied either and Roland was just a boy. He seemed content. Maybe a little confused and not exactly bubbling with joy and smiles, but he wasn't upset.

Emma looked over and watched Maleficent and Lily have a tearful union, mother and daughter finally in the same place at the same time. Lily, although she couldn't see for herself, most likely wasn't crying, but she could tell that Maleficent was. The blue-eyed woman smiled and tightly hugged Lily as tears slid down her face. Her eyes were watery when she actually bothered to open them and Emma saw a softer side to Maleficent that she could see Regina falling for in a past life.

"Up," she heard a small voice say and Emma directed her attention to Roland as he tugged on Robin’s pants and stared up at the man.

Regina looked at Robin and watched him lift Roland onto his hip with a smile. She smiled at Roland first and then at Robin, but Emma could tell it was forced. When she looked at Robin as well she noted that he seemed less sure of how genuine Regina’s expression actually was. Robin wasn’t much of a soulmate in Emma’s opinion. He clearly didn’t know her very well despite all the time they’d spent together. And after having been…intimate as well. Emma cringed at the thought.

"R'gina," Roland beamed at the brunette before he extended an arm and leaned toward her.

Regina's eyes went back to Roland and even if she didn't have any consent from Robin to do so, she lifted Roland up and held him against her hip.

Roland smiled at her and leaned in. He pressed his forehead to her temple and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck. He squirmed in her arms for a moment and Regina lifted him a little higher. When he seemed comfortable, he moved a hand from the back of Regina's neck to the tips of her silky smooth hair. He twirled it around his little fingers and released it before he grabbed at it again. He was at least five years old as far as Emma could tell, but his fascination with Regina's hair resembled a much younger child's desire to play with whatever dangling or loose thing in their grasp. It was odd, but cute. Emma enjoyed the display, but it also made her a little uncomfortable to know the woman had a bond with Roland. It meant that she'd probably have more involvement with Robin for the kid's sake and Emma didn't like the thought of that for several reasons.

Henry finally made himself known and pushed past her parents with a big smile and a lot of relief on his face. He ran into her and she breathed out her happiness to see him again as she held him tightly in a hug similar to how Maleficent hugged Lily. For a moment, everything seemed fine again.

"You did it," he said into her shirt before he pulled back to look at her, his smile still wide across his face.

"Well, I didn't do it alone," she said and the two of them looked at Regina whose hands were still full with Roland, but Henry slammed into her for a hug anyway.

Regina freed an arm from between her and Henry and wrapped it around him as she continued to hold Roland. Emma saw her struggle to hug him fully, but their embrace—one armed or more—was better than no hug at all. She was happy just to have him close again.

"I missed you," Regina said.

"It was only for a night."

"It was a _long_ night."

At that, Regina looked up and locked eyes with her. She felt the tension between them rise, but more than that she felt eyes on them. More than one pair.

She looked over and saw both Zelena and Robin staring at them.

* * *

Much later, after everyone had been reunited outside of the library, Regina slapped the magic-restraining cuff on Zelena and set her up with a room at Granny's above the diner. What she really wanted to do was leave the woman to rot in the psych ward in the hospital basement, but the child she carried inside her didn't deserve to grow and be nurtured in captivity before birth. If she was religious, she would pray for that baby. He or she would have a loving father, but Zelena had conceived the child under false pretenses and only to spite her little sister.

She opened the room door for Zelena and shoved her in, just enough to be rough with the redhead yet not enough to hurt the baby. She heard Zelena laugh before the other woman turned around just barely inside the room, a smile that looked more like a grin on her face as Zelena looked at her.

"Show me how you really feel," Zelena almost purred, her tone filled with a certain cadence. She sounded so smug, like she'd won the fight, and maybe she had. She'd won Robin, but it was clear that Robin didn't love her. He probably couldn't after what she'd done to him, and to his wife. Plus, they still had to break the news to Roland about his mother. It wasn't fair. It wasn't anywhere near what Regina would have done even as the Evil Queen.

Her sister truly was wicked.

“Make no mistake, I’m showing you kindness I wouldn’t if you weren’t with child. But let me also make one thing perfectly clear: I will not hesitate to throw you into the mental ward if you dare try to hurt, trick, or plot against anyone in this town,” she growled at Zelena.

Zelena scoffed and laughed in her face.

“Have I not done enough damage, _Sis_? I would have thought by now you’d have given up the fight. Tell me, is there more you have to lose?”

“It’s of no concern to you. It never was, never _should_ have been. Stay away from me and stay away from my family. Oh, and if you make things even worse and more complicated for Roland or Robin, I will _end_ you.”

Zelena’s smirk was wiped clean off her face the instant the threat reached her ears.

“You would really do that? Not just to me, but to an _innocent child_? Your _soulmate’s_ child?”

“Test me and we’ll find out,” she sneered.

“All because you’re mad that I now have what you’ve _always_ wanted,” Zelena shook her head. “A child.”

“No,” Regina replied with a small smirk of her own. “I already have a child. Henry. No, what I’m mad about is you trying to hurt me and using _other_ people to do it.  If you have a problem with me, you take it out on me. Go near the people I care about again and I promise what I do to you will make you wish I’d killed you.”

With a cold, sharp Evil Queen glare, Regina kept her eyes set on Zelena even as she turned away from the door. She maintained the glare over her shoulder for a moment and then swiftly made her exit down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two steps forward, one step back with Emma and Regina. Thanks for all the comments/reviews, favorites, and follows so far. Keep it up! :)
> 
> Also, in case there are some of you that aren't aware but are interested, there's going to be a Sea Devil Week and it's coming up. Go to seadevil-week.tumblr.com for more information and if you want to suggest a theme, do it quickly. The last day for that is tomorrow. Theme voting starts on July 10.


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